'Strong and nice victim': Hala Moughanie Breaks Down the Myth of Resilience

Hala Moughanie will be awarded the France-Lebanon Prize 2025 on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 7:15 p.m. for her novel Les Bestioles (Elyzad). The prize will be presented by writer Georgia Makhlouf during a ceremony at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, in the presence of Philippe Helou, patron of the annual award.A novelist and playwright, as well as an independent consultant in public policy and conflict mediation, Moughanie offers a striking and original text chronicling the days in Beirut following the twin explosions at the port. The story unfolds through the voice of a grocer whose daily life has been shattered.The oral form of the soliloquy allows for a free and bold composition. The rhythm is broken, the sentences staccato, mirroring raw emotion. Resentment and anguish spill over, while the gaze cast on the devastated city and...