Raafat Hekmat receives Henning Mankell grant and guest-edits a special issue of PEN/Opp
A grant supporting a novel in progress and a publication bringing Syrian writing to readers in three languages mark two recent developments in the work of Raafat Hekmat, a writer and former ICORN resident in Stockholm.
Hekmat has been awarded the 2026 Henning Mankell writing grant to develop his novel project. The grant provides time and space for sustained literary work and comes from the Överberg Foundation, established by Mankell to support writers and playwrights.
The recipients were announced by the Swedish Writers’ Union and the Writers Guild of Sweden. For Hekmat, the grant offers an opportunity to concentrate on his fiction alongside his work connecting writers across languages and borders.
He has also guest-edited “Syrian Literature Beyond Reductionism,” a special issue of PEN/Opp, Swedish PEN’s online magazine. Published in Arabic, Swedish, and English, the issue is a collaboration between Swedish PEN and PEN Syria, where Hekmat serves as Secretary General.
The issue brings together eleven Syrian voices writing from within Syria and in exile. Through poetry, fiction, essays, and an interview, they explore freedom, memory, belonging, and the changing realities of their country.
At its heart is an invitation to encounter Syrian writers through the depth and diversity of their work. The contributors offer distinct literary perspectives that reach beyond familiar representations of Syria through war and displacement. Translation brings these perspectives into conversation with a wider readership while preserving the particular experiences and voices behind them.
Hekmat, who came to Stockholm through ICORN, is a poet and short-story writer whose work engages with exile, memory, and survival. These two developments reflect the continuing growth of his own writing and his commitment to creating opportunities for literary exchange.
