Yumna Kassab shortlisted for the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction

The 2020 Victorian Premier‘s Literary Awards shortlists have been announced, and we are delighted that The House of Youssef by Yumna Kassab has been selected for Fiction.

The House of Youssef is a debut collection of short stories remarkable for its minimalism. Set in the western suburbs of Sydney, it portrays the lives of Lebanese immigrants and their families.

As the reader works through these vignettes, the many lenses through which these characters see the world becomes strikingly apparent, and their effect on the reader stunning. Minimalism is not just the format of this book, but it becomes its metaphor – a writerly tool – to express the ongoing effects of Islamophobia.

– From the judges’ report.

Read the full judges‘ report and an excerpt from The House of Youssef on the Wheeler Centre website.