Khaled Khalifa: the famous “larger than life” Syrian writer mourned

Image source, AFP

By Lina SinjabBBC News, Beirut

The death by famous Syrian author Khaled Khalifa shocked the community at home and abroad. Khaled died at his home in Damascus following a sudden heart attack, aged 59.

I met Khaled Khalifa in Damascus in the early 1990s, just as his fame as a screenwriter was taking off and we immediately became friends relatives.

His career as an author also began around this time, with his first novel The Guard of Deception. He then began writing television series and won acclaim for the popular drama A Portrait of the Jalali Family.

Khaled's fame was sealed when he won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2013 for his novel In Praise of Hate, translated into six LANGUAGES.

Three years later, another of his novels, Death is Hard Work, about the journey of a deceased father to be buried in his hometown during the war in Syria, was nominated. for the National Book Awards in the United States.

But Khaled was celebrated at home for much more than his literary work.

My friend had a larger-than-life personality, which shined as he walked through the streets of Damascus, greeting everyone as if they were family.