Fakhri Kawar

Fakhri Kawar (Arabic: فخري قعوار, Father of the Jordanian Short Story, 9 June 1945 - 8 October 2024) was one of the most prominent Jordanian and Arab writers, authors, media professionals and journalists in the contemporary Jordanian and Arab cultural scene, calling for democracy, public freedoms, and the rights of women and children. He is known for his firm positions in support of Arab unity and the Palestinian cause. He represented Jordan in many cultural festivals, conferences, seminars and literary and intellectual research workshops, and gave hundreds of lectures on national and cultural affairs in Jordan and around the world. His stories have been translated into many languages and published in international magazines and newspapers, contributing to the spread of Jordanian and Arab literature and culture in Western countries.

Fakhri Kawar was born in the Jordanian town of Al-H4” الاجفور” near the border city of Mafraq in 1945. He was educated in Jerusalem, where he received the General Secondary Education Certificate (Tawjihi) from the Ibrahimieh College in Jerusalem in 1964. He later enrolled in Beirut Arab University to earn a BA in Arabic language and literature in 1971. He died in Amman on 8 October 2024.

Fakhri kawar was elected as a member of the first Jordanian Parliament after the revocation of martial law in 1989, and he won representation of the city of Amman by a landslide despite the fierce competition at the time. This was a direct result of the people’s confidence in what Kawar offered in defense of them in his writings and their belief in the seriousness of his position and the steadfastness of his principles. He also founded and headed the Democratic Alliance (التجمع الديمقراطي) in the Council.

Fakhri Kawar was involved in establishing and chairing many local and Arab cultural unions. He was a founding member of the Jordanian Writers Association, of which he was elected a board member six times, and as vice president once. He was elected as its president for four terms from 1981 to 2001. He was the only Arab and Jordanian who was elected twice in a row as Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Writers and Authors from 1992 to 1998. Fakhri Kawar participated as a one of the judge committee in the first Arab Singing Award Festival in Abu Dhabi in 1996.

Fakhri Kawar had the privilege of meeting many Arab and foreign presidents, and has been awarded many medals and prizes in recognition of his achievements. Fakhri Kawar received the Order of Independence by His Majesty King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein in Amman in 2008. in addition to receiving the State Encouragement Award from His Majesty the late King Hussein Bin Talal. Fakhri Kawar received Al-Fateh Medal from the late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi in 1993, and an honorary doctorate from the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Fakhri Kawar’s creative career was distinguished by masterpieces. He is the author of more than forty books, for which he received creative awards, in the field of short stories, novels, translation, satirical literature, children’s literature, television drama, radio, and theater. He also wrote more than eleven thousand articles for major Jordanian and Arab newspapers. In recognition of his contribution, Fakhri Kawar was chosen as the personality of the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts in its thirty-sixth edition, held in 2022. The Jordanian Ministry of Culture had created this initiative in the same year by adopting one of the Jordanian cultural icons as the annual personality of the festival. In addition, an award was created in his name for short story writers, and his literary innovations were studied through a specialized cultural symposium within the festival’s schedule of events.

Many critics have studied the various literary genres that Fakhri Kawar has worked in and have published books about his creativity and the contributions of his writing in establishing the Jordanian short story, and enriching the Arab short story and the journalistic article in a period that extended for more than fifty years in Jordan and the Arab world. His works were described as a creative symphony in the Jordanian and Arab cultural scene, as he was known as an pan-Arab writer concerned with the homeland, the citizen and the nation, and he was called the “Father of the Jordanian Short Story” (فارس القصة الأردنية). Literary doctoral and masters theses in Jordan, Egypt, India and other countries have been written on his works.

Career

1. Kawar worked upon graduation as a teacher in several private schools in each of Zarqa and Amman.

2. He also worked at Yarmouk University in Irbid for several months in the mid-1970s. The Prime Minister at the time, Mudar Badran, dismissed Kawar from his post after the latter published an article entitled "Amman fi el-Qalb" Amman is in the heart" in the Al Ra'i newspaper.

3. Kawar was elected as member of the Parliament of Jordan in 1989, he ran for Amman 3rd district's seat.

4. Fakhri Kawar began writing short stories while he was a middle school student in the Jordanian city of Mafraq. His first stories were broadcast by the Jordanian Radio in 1962. His first stories were also published in Jordanian and Arab magazines and newspapers, such as the Egyptian “Al- Qissa”, the Lebanese “Al-Adib”, the Jerusalemite “Al- Ufuq Al-Jadeed”, and the newspapers “Al-Jihad”, “Al-Difaa”, “Filastin”, “Al-Manar”, and others.

5. Fakhri Kawar was an Arabic language teacher in private schools in Jordan from 1967 until 1980. He then worked at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan, during its founding period in the seventies, and was dismissed after he published an article calling for social equality in the Jordanian newspaper Al-Rai entitled “Amman in the Heart.”

6. Fakhri Kawar’s cultural output was studied in the official Arabic language curriculum in Jordan.

7. Fakhri Kawar was Editor and columnist in daily & weekly newspapers between 1970 and 2012 such as Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Al-Dustour Newspaper, Al-Rai newspaper, Al-Shaab newspaper, Al-Arab Al-Yawm newspaper, Sheehan newspaper and other newspapers, in addition to Jordanian daily and weekly magazines.

8. The total number of his articles is no less than eleven thousand.

9. He wrote the “Shai’ maa” شيء ما column and the “Naafidha” نافذة column under his pseudonym “Nazih.”

10. Fakhri Kawar worked as editor-in-chief of the children's newspaper "Wissam" from the publication of its first issue in the mid-eighties.

11. Fakhri Kawar was elected as a member of the 11th Jordanian Parliament in 1989, and won overwhelmingly from the capital, Amman.

12. Fakhri Kawar was the editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Al-Wahda since its publication in 2001.

13. Fakhri Kawar was the only Jordanian who was elected as President of the Jordanian Writers Association for four terms, between 1981 to 2001. He was also elected as a member of the administrative body of the Jordanian Writers Association for six terms, and as vice president for one term.

14. Kawar participated in establishing many local and Arab cultural union bodies, the Jordanian Writers Association being one of them.

15. Fakhri Kawar was editor-in-chief of the cultural magazine “Awraq”, published by the Jordanian Writers Association.

16. Fakhri Kawar was the only jordanian elected as Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Writers and Authors at the conference held in Jordan in 1992. And the first in the Arab world to be re-elected as President of the Union at the conference held in Morocco in 1995, and remained President of the Union for six years.

17. Fakhri Kawar participated in the first Arab Singing Award Festival in Abu Dhabi in 1996 as a judge, and received special recognition from His Highness the late Sheikh Zayed bin Nahyan.

18. Fakhri Kawar wrote more than fifty books in the form of novels, short stories, children's literature, articles, studies, radio and television drama.

Fakhri Kawar’s Local and international cultural status

Fakhri Kawar represented Jordan in many cultural festivals, conferences, seminars, literary and intellectual research workshops, and gave hundreds of lectures on national and cultural affairs in Jordan and around the world.

Fakhri Kawar’s works and stories have been translated into many languages and published in international magazines and newspapers, which has contributed to the dissemination of Jordanian and Arab literature and culture in Western countries. His book "The Diaries of Farhan Farah Saeed" was translated into Russian and published in the volume "Literary Selections from the East" in Moscow. A number of his short stories were translated into Serbian and published in Yugoslav newspapers including (Politika) and (Hedgehog). A number of his stories were also translated into Turkish and published in magazines such as (Ashyan), (Yedi Akayim) and (Seven Seasons) in Turkey. In addition, his novel "Party of the Deaf" was translated into English in Amman, and many of his stories are currently being translated into English by Khaled Rajeh at the University of Iowa in the United States of America.

Fakhri Kawar’s stories were published in a number of books of selected short stories, and he also wrote dozens of introductions and blurbs for books by his fellow Jordanian and Arab authors.

Fakhri Kawar’s works were shown on Arab stages and screens, including the children’s play “Nation of Birds,” which was shown at the Jerash Festival Theater in Jordan, in other Jordanian cities, and in some Arab countries. His book “The Diaries of Farhan Farah Saeed” was also turned into a television series that deals with the concerns of teachers and was shown on Jordanian television. In addition, his radio series “Dar Abu Warad,” “Every Day a Story,” and “A Man Above Suspicion” were broadcast on Jordanian radio.

Fakhri Kawar was chosen to be the personality of the 36th Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts, which was held in 2022.

Fakhri Kawar was written about in the Encyclopedia of Arab Celebrities, “Who’s Who in the Arab World”, page 456, 2007.

Fakhri Kawar was written about in the Encyclopedia of Personalities in the Jordanian Parliament 1989-1993 “Who’s Who In the Jordanian Parliament” by Tim Riedel, page 44, 1993.

Membership

Fakhri Kawar was a member of the Jordanian Journalists Syndicate, Fakhri Kawar was a member of the Bulgarian Society for Literature and Satirical Art, Fakhri Kawar was a member of the Arab National Forum,

Fakhri Kawar was a member of the Arab Popular Forces Conference. 

Fakhri Kawar was amember of the Jordanian Writers Association since it was established in 1974. He was elected a chairman of the association for four rounds and was the editor-in-chief of the association's Awaraq Magazine.

He was also the editor-in-chief of Wisam, a children's magazine, in the mid-1980s. In 1992, Qawar was elected the General Secretary of the Arab Writers Union in the conference that was held in Amman, he was re-elected for the same position in 1995.

Satirical influence

Kawar wrote the script of one of Jordan's earliest comedy television operas called "The Diary of Farhan Farah Sa'eed". He also wrote the script for a popular satirical radio program called "Dar Abu Warrad," or the House of Abu Warrad, in the mid-1990s, in addition to another program called "Kol Youm Hikya" ("A Story for Every Day"). In 2009 the Greater Amman Municipality published Kawar's satirical works in one volume.

==Fakhri Kawar's Contributions to Enriching Jordanian and Arab Literature== (Written by Professor Dr. Ibrahim Khalil )

Fakhri Kawar occupies a high position and a lofty rank among story writers due to the abundance of his creativity in this literary genre and his distinction in terms of artistic diversity and moving forward in untrodden directions in story writing. He began writing when he was young, before the age of fifteen, initially influenced by popular figures in story writing such as Anton Chekhov, Maupassant, Edgar Allan Poe, Mahmoud Taymour, Youssef Idris, Tawfiq Youssef Awad, and Abdul Salam Al-Ujaili. He published his early stories in newspapers and magazines, including “Al-Adib,” “Al-Adab,” “Al-Ufak Al-Jadeed,” and “Afkar.” Fakhri Kawar is a pioneer in writing stories that employ mythological and historical references. The stories in the collection “Three Voices” (1972), which he co-authored with Khalil Al-Sawahri and Ahmed Abdel Haq, represent what can be described as a realist style. They attracted the attention of many critics who addressed them in articles that appeared on the pages of Arab newspapers and magazines. However, in 1973, Kawar published a new collection entitled “Why Did Suzy Cry So Much?”. In this collection, there were signs of a new direction in him that approached experimentation, a search for innovative ways of writing. In the story “The Oak Cave,” we find a story with two levels, the first of which is the text and the second of which is the margins. This story caught the attention of an academic critic who dwelt on it for a long time, emphasizing its unity of impression, spontaneity of narration, its smoothness, and its liveliness in depicting the characters. However, he did not fall prey to experimentation from the first moment. Therefore, in the collection “Chess is Prohibited” (1976), we find him completely abandoning traditional methods and adopting the pieces, players, and those involved in the game as symbols that express his strict political position on the prevailing conditions. In his collection "The Barrel" (1982), he moved further away from the classical style, moving towards a new writing in which he abandoned the story with a beginning, middle and end. He relied heavily on dialogue and satire, and on alternating time between past, present and future. Such writing did not please conservatives, who did not hesitate to attack the writer and his stories with their innovative style. Writers admired the use of narrative references derived from heritage in these stories, such as in the story "Revenge", the story "The Surprise", the story "The Death of a Man" and the story "Today Wine, Tomorrow Action". The stories in this collection, as in the collection "I Am the Patriarch" (1981), tend towards condensation and a lack of interest in the event as an event. The writer chooses a part of the event and sheds light on it before the story ends, which often borrows a unique form of thought in a satirical language and fragmented phrases that bring the story closer to poetry. With these qualities, Fakhri Kawar wrote short story collections including “Ayyub the Palestinian” (1989), “The Night Watchman’s Dream” (1993), and “The Beloved’s Path.” The emerging generation of short story writers was influenced by his works included Muhammad Tamliyeh, Elias Farkouh, Muflih Al-Adwan, Samiya Al-Atout, Ahmad Al-Naimi, Amani Suleiman, and other writers from the generation whose contributions blossomed in the eighties of the last century. Therefore, we are not surprised if critics such as Ahmad Al-Muslih, Abdul Rahman Yaghi, Paul Shaul, Fadel Thamer, Nazih Abu Nidal, Ibrahim Al-Saafin, Nabil Haddad, and Ibrahim Khalil were interested in his stories and in studying them. In the art of the essay, Fakhri Kawar is considered one of the masters, as his articles are known for their satirical style that captivates the reader, and we find many examples of these articles in his books “Bustan Sahibat Al-Jalalah”, “Notes of my Funeral”, “Farhan Farah Saeed”, and other books. This does not mean that his production in children’s literature, such as “A Conversation with Umaima”, the play “Nation of Birds” and others is of lesser status than his stories and articles.

Academic studies on Fakhri Kawar works

Many critics, such as Ahmed Al-Muslih, Abdul Rahman Yaghi, Paul Shaul, Fadel Thamer, Nazih Abu Nidal, Ibrahim Al-Saafin, Nabil Haddad, and Ibrahim Khalil, have studied the various literary genres that Kawar dealt with. Many books and critical papers have been published about his creativity and the contributions of his writing in establishing the Jordanian short story. The focus was also on what Kawar's works contributed to enriching the Arab short story and the journalistic article in a period spanning more than fifty years, both in Jordan and in the Arab world.

Fakhri Kawar’s Publications in short stories and novels

● "Three Voices " (collaboration) 1972.

● "Why Did Suzy Cry So Much?" 1973.

● "Chess is Prohibited" 1976.

● "I am the Patriarch" 1981.

● "The Barrel" 1982, printed three times.

● "Ayyub the Palestinian” 1989.

● "A Night Watchman's Dream" 1993.

● " A Man and a Woman" 1996.

● "Party of the Deaf" (novel) 1996.

● "The Beloved's Path" 1996.

●"The Short Stories" a volume of short story collections 2003.

● “Party of the Deaf”, translated into English in 2005.

● "Complete Works" 2006.

● "The Sun Never Sets" (novel) 2008.

● "The Horse and the Night", a collection of short stories, 2009.

● "Aziz and Aziza", a collection of short stories, 2010.

● "The Dance of Life", a collection of short stories, 2011.

Fakhri Kawar’s Publications in children's literature

● "The Turtle and the Children" 1979.

● "From the Colorful Butterfly to the Migratory Birds" (short stories) 1980.

● “Nation of Birds” (play) 1983, performed at the Jerash Festival, in other Jordanian cities, and in some Arab countries.

● "A Conversation with Umaima" 1991.

● "Children's Works" 2010.

Fakhri Kawar's publications in satirical literature

● "The Diaries of Farhan Farah Saeed" 1982.

● "Notes of my Funeral" 1994.

● "Melody of the Last Return" 1998.

● "The Departed" 2006.

● "Satirical Works" 2007.

● "Day of Laughter", 2009.

Fakhri Kawar's publications in essays and studies

● "Essays on Art" 1985.

● "Nights of Pleasure" 1990.

● "The Rose Tree" 1997.

● "The Rooster and the Hen" 2006.

● "Her Majesty's Garden" 2006.

● "Dialogues" (a two-part book) 2009.

● "Writings for My Writings" 2011.

● "Literary Follow-ups" 2012.

● "Nazih’s Window" 2012.

● "Essays" 2014.

==Fakhri Kawar's works for radio, television and theatre==

● "The Diaries of Farah Farhan Saeed " is a thirty-episode comedy television series that aired on Jordanian television. It starred actress Shafika Al-Tal, actor Nabil Sawalha, actor Ashraf Abaza and others, and was directed by Ahmed Youssef.

● "Nation of Birds" (a children's play) 1983.

● “Dar Abu Warrad” was a popular daily satirical radio series that aired for two years in the mid-nineties on Jordanian Radio.

● “Every Day a Story” was a popular daily satirical radio series that aired for two years in the late nineties on Jordanian Radio.

● "A Man Above Suspicion" was a popular daily satirical radio series consisting of 30 episodes, which was broadcast daily on Jordanian Radio in 2002.

Fakhri Kawar in other languages

“Farhan Farah Saeed" was translated into Russian in Moscow and published in the volume "Literary Selections from the East"

" Party of the Deaf" ( عنبر الطرشان) translated into English by Al-Halool, Musa, Amman- Jordan

"Chess is Prohibited" (ممنوع لعب الشطرنج) translated into English by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

"The Tree" (شجرة معرفة الخير والشر) translated in English from the collection "Chess is Prohibited" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“I am the Patriarch” (انا البطريرك) translated into English from the collection "I am the Patriarch" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“Love is Blue" (الحب ازرق) translated into English from the same collection by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“Crime and Punishment" (الجريمة والعقاب) translated into English from the collection "Ayyub the Palestinian" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“A Bird in my House" (في بيتي طائر) translated into English from the collection "Ayyub the Palestinian" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“The Jug" (الابريق) translated into English from the collection "Ayyub the Palestinian" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“Sufficient is He in Whom we Trust" (حسبنا الله) translated into English from the collection “Ayyub the Palestinian” by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“The Cow" (رأس البقرة) translated into English from the collection "Ayyub the Palestinian" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“He of the Two Horns" (ذو القرنين) translated into English from the collection "Job the Palestinian" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“God Have Mercy Upon You” (رحمكم الله) translated into English from the collection "Notes of my Funeral" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

“George Bush is Under my Pillow" (جورج بوش تحت مخدتي) translated into English from the collection "Melody of the Last Return" by Khaled Rajeh, University of Iowa, USA.

Studies and research on his literature and works

● “Fakhri Kawar - A Study of His Narrative Art 1964-1994” by Dr. Ibrahim Khalil, 1996.

● "Fakhri Kawar, Thirty Years of Creativity" prepared and edited by Dr. Ibrahim Khalil, 1996.

● “Al-Siraj - Playing of Pens” Readings in Selected Books, by Youssef Hamdan, 1997.

● “Fakhri Kawar and the Short Story” by researcher Yara Hashem, 2003.

● “Fakhri Kawar and the Short Story, Multiple Techniques” An article published in Al Rai newspaper by Ziad Awda, 10/4/2005,

● “The Development of Narrative Structure in the Jordanian Short Story: Fakhri Kawar as a Model” Doctoral Research in Literary and Linguistic Studies, prepared by researcher Najat Al-Attar, 2008.

● “Fakhri Kawar: Father of the Jordanian Story” An essay on Fakhri Kawar’s literary creations, Afkar Magazine, Issue No. (284), 2012.

● “Satire in Fakhri Kawar’s Stories” MA thesis in Arabic Language and Literature - Jerash University, prepared by student Abeer Ismail Zare’ Hadeeb, 2016.

● “The Story and the Very Short Story in Jordan” Selected Writings for the Period 1922-2018, by the writer Nazih Abu Nidal, 2018.

● “Fakhri Kawar and his contributions to the art of the short story from 1960 to the end of 2010” A doctoral thesis submitted to the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Islamic University, presented by Siraj Ahmed, New Delhi, India,

1. A Man and a Woman, translated 1996

Awards

“Saif al-Din al-Irani Award for Short Stories” Jordanian Writers Association, 1986.

"Appreciation Award in Children's Literature" Jordanian Writers Association 1983.

"Best Children's Play Award", Jordanian Library Association, 1984.

“The State Encouragement Award” from the late King Hussein bin Talal for his short story collection “Ayyub the Palestinian”, 1989.

"The Al-Fateh Medal" from the late President Muammar Gaddafi, may God have mercy on him, in the Libyan Jamahiriya in 1993.

Yaqoub Awis Award for Best Article Writer, Jordanian Writers Association, 1996.

“Al-Hussein Award for Journalistic Creativity (Best Article),” Jordanian Journalists Syndicate, 2001.

“The Arab Creative Forum Festival Award” sponsored by the League of Arab States in Cairo in 2002.

"Independence Medal" from His Majesty the King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein in 2008.

He received an honorary doctorate from the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

He was chosen to be the personality of the 36th Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts, which was held in 2022.

He was written about in the Encyclopedia of Arab Celebrities, “Who’s Who in the Arab World”, page 456, 2007.

He was written about in the Encyclopedia of Personalities in the Jordanian Parliament 1989-1993 “Who’s Who In the Jordanian Parliament” by Tim Riedel, page 44, 1993.

He received more than fifty awards in Jordan and the world in various conferences and occasions in recognition of his literary contributions.

References

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