France Meyer's translation of Ahmad Saadawi‘s novel 'Frankenstein à Bagdad' has been awarded the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2017. On hearing of the award, CAIS Director Amin Saikal said, 'My warmest congratulations. It is an enormous achievement and well deserving. I am delighted for you and pleased that such an award is given to one of our staff'.

The Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire is the oldest and most prestigious French prize devoted to the genre of literary science-fiction. It is awarded entirely on merit and fully independent from Publishing Houses marketing and commercial activities. Up to 33 novels in each category are selected and peer reviewed by a jury of 10 writers, literary critiques, readers and journalists who meet to discuss the selected works over a period of 6 months.

This is the first time a novel by an Arab writer is awarded such prize and this celebrates the role and achievements of literary translation. The prize will be awarded on 4 June in a public ceremony at the upcoming International Literature and Film Festival 'Etonnants Voyageurs'.

France Meyer's translation of the novel, Frankenstein à Bagdad by Ahmed Saadawi, has been recently published by Pirhana Press. The translation of this 378 page masterpiece from Arabic to French was an epic project for Ms Meyer who grew up in Morocco, and studied in France and later in Cairo. She was awarded a scholarship to the Institut Français d’Etudes Arabes (Institut Français du Proche Orient) in Damascus where she lived for two years. France's work as a translator is highly valued. She has translated the important writers of Arabic texts: Naguib Mahfouz, Najwa Barakat, Raif Badawi and Abdul Rahman Mounif.

As well as translating more than 18 literary works from Arabic to French, Ms Meyer teaches Introductory Arabic at CAIS. Those interested in Frankenstein à Bagdad can read France's review included below.

Born in 1973, Ahmad Saadawi lives in Baghdad and is both a talented young novelist, poet and essayist, and a producer of documentary films. He is the author of a book of poetry and three novels, published between 2000 and 2013. In 2014 Saadawi received the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction. He is the first Iraqi to receive this prize.
Frankenstein in Baghdad is a fantasy novel, that opens in Baghdad, in street number 7 of the district of Batawin in the summer of 2005, and ends about a year later. Fiction mingles with reality, and actual events, such as the catastrophic incident of the Al-Aima Bridge in August 2005, are incorporated into the plot.
The main characters are: Elishua, an old Christian women and a widow, who lives in hope of the return of her son, Daniel, disappeared 20 years ago while he was a soldier in the Iraqi army during the Iran-Iraq war.
Hadi al-Attag, or Hadi 'the Rag and Bone man', who lives in the neighbouring house, a rubble called the Jewish ruin. The death of his young work partner in an explosion turns him into a bitter alcoholic, and he starts to scour the city in search of body parts that he stitches together, unintentionally 'giving life' to a creature that will appear in the novel under several names, 'The Nameless', 'The Criminal X' or 'Frankenstein'.
Mahmoud al-Sawadi is a young journalist from the province of Maysan in southeast Iraq who lives in the same neighborhood as Elishua and Hadi. Mentored by his new boss, he becomes the chief editor of the magazine Al-Haqiqa. In his quest for a good story, he befriends Hadi who entrusts him with the story of the Nameless.
Majid Muhammad Surur, brigadier of the 'Monitoring and Intervention Brigade', predicts their future to government officials and must guess the plans of a cohort of suicide bombers of all factions. With the help of the clique of astrologists that surround him, he tries to arrest and eliminate the Nameless, so as to ensure his own personal success.
The Nameless, a creature both repulsive and moving, attempts to avenge the death of the people whose flesh he is made of, and who he presumes are innocent victims. However, his decomposing body requires more and more body parts; he is soon drawn into a vicious circle, forced to kill to survive and to use the flesh of convicted murderers, which irrevocably alters the nobility of his original mission.
The novel opens in 2005. Two years earlier, the invasion of Iraq by the United States led coalition resulted in the defeat of the Iraqi army, the execution of Saddam Hussein and the establishment of the new government. However, Iraq has become the scene of a violent civil war between several groups of insurgents, the Shiite and Sunni militias, some terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda, the US military and the forces of the new Iraqi government.
Hadi al-Attag's first mission is to avenge the innocent victims of whose flesh he is made. Hadi’s neighbor, the old Elishua, mistakes the creature for her missing son and gives it asylum in her house. However, once 'avenged', the pieces of the Nameless body break down and fall off, threatening his survival. He therefore urgently seeks organs and limbs of random men, whose honesty and innocence he cannot prove. This spoils his image forever and defeats his noble goal. His existence and mission have no meaning anymore; he must kill to survive and avenge his own victims. He is now caught up in a vicious circle.
Despite the title’s reference to Frankenstein, Ahmad Saadawi denies having been inspired or influenced by the work of Mary Shelley. Rather, he drew on the vast cultural space that this character has created universally, through the vast number of films, essays, comics, plays that are dedicated to it.
The Nameless is a character full of ambiguity. He is the symbol of Baghdad at the time, and of the multiple problems that paralyse Iraq. He claims to combat the Shiite and Sunni militias, the US forces and the Iraqi government, while representing the diverse facets of Iraqi popular identity.
Early in the novel, the Nameless appears as the saviour, defender of the old and the needy, the oppressed and the innocent. He embodies the deep longing for justice of a people that has lived too long under the grip of a dictatorship, at a time when the hope that rose after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime has been shattered by the stronghold of the American army and the Iraqi armed factions over the city. The concept of salvation is a recurring theme in the novel.
However, this laudable endeavour is gradually overshadowed by the metamorphosis of the Nameless. Evil takes hold of the saviour who finds himself forever damned. The Nameless soon embodies both good and evil, justice and injustice, forgiveness and revenge, innocence and guilt.
Despite the intrinsic violence of the novel, graphic at times, Ahmad Saadawi shows a real affection towards his characters whose weaknesses he describes with much compassion. The fantasy elements of the plot, the Brigadier’s astrologists, the divining powers of the Nameless, not to mention the 'creature' itself, add an almost comical and entertaining twist to the intrigue, and allow the reader to pause and catch his breath.
The style is fluid, the grammar impeccable, the language clear and lively with fragments of Iraqi dialect. The main characters convey the same story from multiple angles, the author thus avoiding the pitfalls of a linear narration, and a series of incidents keep the reader alert and curious until the end. Ahmad Saadawi refrains from ending his story, leaving the door open to imagination and the reader longing for more.
This is a page-turner novel, even for those who have no particular taste for fantasy literature and horror fiction. All is done to harpoon and retain the reader, and despite the gloomy backdrop, the characters retain a very moving human dimension. The writer carefully avoids all the clichés inherent to the civil war and the violence it causes. He encourages us to reflect on our responsibility as human beings, beyond the framework of the Iraqi conflict, and gives his story a universal value.
Not surprisingly, this novel enjoyed an immediate success in the Arab world, and its first edition sold out well before the author received the IPAF in 2014. In the realm of Arabic literature where realism usually dominates, the incursion of fantasy was sure to attract readers for very diverse and broad horizons.
The novel has been translated into several European languages. The universality of the themes, the originality of the plot and the quality of the writing will ensure its international success.