The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) has announced the 2023 shortlist, which presents sixteen novels. The final laureate will win $50,000 with the commitment that IPAF will cover the cost of translating her/his novel into English to help finance its publication for an English-speaking readership.
The selection was done by a panel of five judges, chaired by Moroccan writer and novelist Mohammed Achaari along with:
- Egyptian academic and novelist Reem Bassiouney ,
- Algerian novelist, researcher and journalist Fadhila El Farouk,
- Swedish university professor and translator Tetz Rooke
- Omani writer and academic Aziza al-Ta'I.
The list of sixteen books selected from one hundred and twenty-four entries is as follows:
- "Drought" by Al-Sadiq Haj Ahmed (Algeria)
- "The Highest Part of the Horizon" by Fatima Abdulhamid (Saudi Arabia)
- "The Antikkhana" by Nasser Iraq (Egypt)
- "They All Say i love Your" by May Telmissany (Egypt)
- "The Ages of Dnaiel in the City of Threads" by Ahmad Abdulatif (Egypt)
- "Bar Lialina" by Ahmed El-Fakharany (Egypt)
- "Days of the Shining Sun" by Miral al-Tahawy (Egypt)
- "The Stone of Happiness" by Azhar Jerjis (Iraq)
- "One Night is Enough" by Qassem Tawfik (Jordan)
- "The Box of Sand" by Aisha Ibrahim (Libya)
- "Concerto Qurina Eduardo" by Najwa Binshatwan (Libya)
- "The Meloy of the Rabbit" by Mohammed Harradi (Morocco)
- "The Family House" by Rabia Raihane (Morocco)
- "The Exile of the Water Diviner" by Zahran Alqasmi (Oman).
- "My Name is Zayzafoune" by Sausan Jamil Hasan (Syria)
- "The Ruler of the Two Fortresses" by Lina Huyan Elhassan (Syria)
This prestigious literary prize aims to reward excellence in contemporary Arab creative writing and to promote Arab literature internationally.
Link to the International Prize for Arabic Fiction: https://arabicfiction.org/about-the-prize