Bagutta Prize
1 appearances
Alessandro Spina
アレッサンドロ・スピナ
Alessandro Spina
Aliases:
Basili Shafik Khouzam / バシリ・シャフィク・クーザム
Pen Names:
Alessandro Spina（Pen name used for literary work）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1927-01-01 （Benghazi, Libya）
- Died
- 2013-01-01 （Italy (Franciacorta area; details not specified)） age 86
- Nationality
- Italian
- Languages
- Italian
- Religion
- Maronite Christianity
- Residence History
- Benghazi (birthplace; lived and managed family business) → Milan (education and early literary activity) → Franciacorta, Italy (retirement residence)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Businessman
- Active Years
- 1950-2013
- Influenced By
- Alberto Moravia, Giorgio Bassani, Vittorio Sereni, Claudio Magris, Paul Bowles (comparison of style), Albert Cossery (comparison of style)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan (specific institution unknown) | — | — | — | — | Italy |
Milan (specific institution unknown)
Country:
Italy
Educated in Milan; published his first story while associated with Milanese literary circles.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Bagutta Prize | I confini dell'ombra (The Confines of the Shadow) — 2006 omnibus edition | — | Bagutta Prize committee | Winner |
Bagutta Prize
2007
Work:
I confini dell'ombra (The Confines of the Shadow) — 2006 omnibus edition
Organization:
Bagutta Prize committee
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
I confini dell'ombra (The Confines of the Shadow)
2006 Historical fiction / linked short story cycle 1268 pagesA sequence of eleven historical novels and short story collections tracing the history of Benghazi from the Italo-Turkish War (1911) to the exploitation of Libya's oil reserves in 1964. The work charts the city's transformations under colonialism and modernization; individual volumes were published across the 1970s and 1980s and issued as a 2006 omnibus.
Colonialism and its legacyUrban transformationModernization and resource exploitation (oil)Diaspora and alienation
Translations
- English translation: André Naffis-Sahely translating The Confines of the Shadow; Volume 1 available from DARF Publishers.
- French translation: Gérard Genot translated the first three novels as Tryptique Libyen (L'Âge d'Homme, 2013).
Tempo e Corruzione
1962 NovelA novel published in 1962. Detailed information about the work is limited in available sources.
Diario di Lavoro: Alle Origini De I Confini Dell'ombra
2010 Memoir / EssaysRecords and recollections concerning the origins and writing process of I confini dell'ombra.
L'ospitalità intellettuale
2012 EssaysA collection of essays on intellectual hospitality.
Elogio dell'inattuale
2013 EssaysA late collection of essays and reflections.
Bibliography
- Tempo e Corruzione (1962)
- I confini dell'ombra. In terra d'oltremare (2006, omnibus)
- Diario Di Lavoro: Alle Origini De I Confini Dell'ombra (2010)
- L'ospitalità intellettuale (2012)
- Elogio dell'inattuale (2013)
Translations of Works
- English translation (ongoing): André Naffis-Sahely's The Confines of the Shadow (DARF Publishers; Volume 1 published).
- French translation: Gérard Genot's Tryptique Libyen (L'Âge d'Homme, 2013).
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Cool, objective narrationExtensive structures focusing on historical continuityMediterranean/North African landscape描写 and social observation
- Recurring Motifs
- Residues of colonialismThe port-city landscape and memory of BenghaziGenerational change and social transformation
Legacy
Alessandro Spina (born Basili Shafik Khouzam) is known for his large-scale cycle I confini dell'ombra, which foregrounds the history of Benghazi. He contributed to Italian literature's engagement with North Africa and the Mediterranean; the 2006 omnibus edition led to the Bagutta Prize in 2007. His work has received limited but growing attention in translation and scholarly reassessment abroad.
Trivia
- Real name: Basili Shafik Khouzam.
- Born in Benghazi into a Maronite family originally from Aleppo.
- Returned to Benghazi in 1954 and managed his father's textile factory for about 25 years while writing in his spare time.
- Individual volumes of his eleven-part sequence were published across the 1970s and 1980s; the 2006 omnibus (1268 pages) won the Bagutta Prize in 2007.
- He retired to Franciacorta, Italy.