Rabih Alameddine Wins PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

New York (AP) -- Rabih Alameddine’s “The Wrong End of the Telescope," a novel written in the second person about a transgender doctor named Mina who works in a refugee camp for Syrians, has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.

“This novel explores the complexities of the refugees’ lives and the intricacies of Mina’s relationships, examines the many angles of a timely and vital subject, and probes the life-changing choices humans are forced to make,” according to a statement issued Tuesday by award judges. “The exquisite language suspends time and investigates the intricacies of seeking refuge, both from geopolitical disruptions and from one’s own patterns of life.”