Forough Karimi has been awarded the prestigious “Dutch Booksellers Award” for 2026 for her novel, I Carry Clouds in My Eyes. A panel of booksellers selected her work as the standout book of the year, praising its powerful narrative .
The jury described the novel as “urgent, heartbreaking, and structurally considered,” noting its ability to give a voice to refugees. The story follows Vida, a psychiatrist who fled Kabul for the Netherlands as a teenager and built a new life there .
This annual award, which includes a €5,000 prize, honors original Dutch-language literature deserving of a wider audience. Karimi, born in Kabul in 1971, fled the civil war in Afghanistan in 1996 to seek asylum in the Netherlands .
Afghan-Dutch Author Forough Karimi Wins 2026 Dutch Booksellers Award
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