2013年阿拉伯布克奖获奖作品长篇小说《竹竿》以一个人在两个国家有两个名字（何塞、伊萨）的方式抛出了主人公的双重身份，以主人公在两个国家（菲律宾、科威特）寻求身份认同为主线展开故事。主人公的母亲是科威特贵族家庭的一名菲佣，与该家庭的长子产生情愫后生下伊萨，因可能影响贵族的声望而被赶回菲律宾。伊萨长大后再次回到科威特，开始在陌生的社会和被边缘化的处境中寻求身份认同。该小说通过对不同人物的刻画，深入探讨了海湾国家外籍劳工的社会处境，边缘人游移在不同阶级间寻求认同的困境，女性在男权社会中奋力反抗实现自我价值等问题。
The novel The Bamboo Stalk won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction （IPAF） in 2013，which looks objectively at the phenomenon of foreign workers in Arab countries and deals with the problem of identity through the life of a young man of mixed race who returns to Kuwait，the “dream” or “heaven” which his mother had described to him since he was a child. The protagonist’s mother is a Filipino servant of a Kuwaiti aristocratic family，who gave birth to Issa with the son of the family. Issa forced to return to Philippines with his mother fear of damaging the reputation of the family. After growing up，Issa returned to Kuwait and began to seek identity in a strange society and marginalized situation. Through the depiction of different characters，the novel deeply discusses the social situation of foreign workers in the Gulf countries，the marginal people seeking identity，and women struggling to resist and realize their self-worth in a patriarchal society.
