KABUL: Afghan writer Forugh Karimi, who resides in the Netherlands, has won the 2026 Dutch Booksellers Award for her novel In My Eyes I Carry the Clouds. The novel, originally published in Dutch under the title In mijn ogen draag ik wolken, was selected as Book of the Year by the panel of Dutch booksellers. In their jury report, the work was described as “urgent, heartbreaking, and carefully structured.” With this novel, Karimi brings the voices of refugees into contemporary literature, portraying both their struggles and resilience. The book, her third work of fiction follows the story of Vida, a psychologist who fled Kabul at the age of 15 and rebuilt her life in the Netherlands. The Dutch Booksellers Award is presented annually to outstanding original Dutch-language works. In addition to a national promotional campaign and a special edition release, this year’s prize includes €5,000 in cash. Karimi was born in Kabul in 1971 and sought asylum in the Netherlands in 1996 at the age of 25 due to the war in Afghanistan.
