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Rawi Hage is as clear-eyed and fearless a writer as this country has known. Book after book he descends into the darkness, returning with a story we require.

How does he survive it? How do we?

Through his humanity, evident in the compassion that runs like a subterranean stream under even the most brutal of his scenes. Through his humour — though it often undoes you even as it yields relief. Most importantly, through his art: no matter how troubling the tale, Hage delivers the essential solace of the unerring line.

But what of redemption, of hope? Ultimately, Rawi Hage’s novels offer up something wilder and more elemental. Call it life force if you will. Call it love.

— 2019 Jury Citation (Peter Behrens, Paul Seesequasis, and Alissa York)