IPAF: International Prize for Arabic Fiction

The judges for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2009 today (Tuesday 11th November) announce their longlist of books in the running for the prize next year.

The longlist of 16 books was chosen from 121 eligible entries and are as follows (in alphabetical order);

Author	Title	Publisher	Nationality
Abu Maatouk, Mohammad	The Bottle and the Genie	Al Kawkab	Syrian

Ali Bader	The Tobacco Guard	Arab Institute for Publishing and Studies	Iraqi

Mohamed El-Bisati	Hunger	Al Adab	Egyptian

Haddad, Fawaz	The Unfaithful Translator	Riad el Rayyes	Syrian

Hameesh, Salem	The Man from Andalucia	Al Adab	Moroccan

Hayek, Ren�e	Prayer for the Family	Arab Cultural Centre	Lebanese

Jaber, Rabih	Confessions	Arab Cultural�Centre	Lebanese

Jouaitly, Abdel Kareem	Platoon of Ruin	Arab Cultural Centre	Moroccan

Kachachi, Inaam	The American Granddaughter	Al Jadid	Iraqi

Al Koni, Ibrahim	The Tumour	Arab Institute for Publishing and Studies	Libyan

Al Muqri, Ali	Black Taste, Black Odour	Al Saqi	Yemeni

Nasrallah, Ibrahim	Time of White Horses	Arab Scientific Publishers	Jordanian- Palestinian

Habib Selmi	The Scents of Marie-Claire	Al Adab	Tunisian

Shukri, Izzedin	Intensive Care	Sharqiyat	Egyptian

Yahya Yakhlif	Ma� Al Sama�	Dar al Shorouk, Jordan	Palestinian

Zeydan, Yussef	Beelzebub	Dar al Shorouk, Egypt	Egyptian

The longlist has been selected by a panel of five judges from Europe and the Arab World. As is customary with the prize, the 2009 judges will be announced at the same time as the shortlist, on 10 December 2008.

Jonathan Taylor, Chair of the Board of Trustees, comments on the longlist: �The longlist demonstrates the quality and diversity of contemporary Arabic writing. It deserves a wider audience and the prize should help secure that.�

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction, now in its second year, aims to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing and to encourage wider readership of quality Arabic literature internationally. The prize was officially launched in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in April 2007 in association with the Booker Prize Foundation, and with the support of the Emirates Foundation. Zaki Nusseibeh, one of the prize�s trustees and Vice-Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, adds: �I am sure that the Emirates Foundation will be happy with the progress of this prize, which promises to be even more successful in its second year than its first. We are all committed to the success and development of contemporary Arabic literature.�
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is awarded specifically for prose fiction in Arabic and each of the six shortlisted authors receives $10,000, with a further $50,000 going to the winner.� The prize received a total of 131 submissions this year from 16 Arab countries, as follows: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Algeria, Oman and Kuwait. 104 of the novels submitted were by male authors and 17 entries by female writers.
The winner of the 2008 prize - Sunset Oasis by Egyptian novelist Baha Taher - is currently being translated into English by acclaimed translator of Arab literature Humphrey Davies. The translation has been funded by Sigrid Rausing and Sunset Oasis will be published in the UK by Sceptre (an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd) in late summer 2009. The author�s agent, Andrew Nurnberg Associates Ltd, is currently finalising contracts in a number of overseas territories.
Joumana Haddad, the prize�s administrator, adds: �The prize is already starting to fulfil its objective. The inaugural year has seen great success and there is already a higher level of interest in the translation of Arab fiction � not only for those shortlisted for the prize, but generally. There is a real scarcity of first-rate Arabic literature available in English, and we are proud that the prize can help remedy that shortage.�

The shortlist of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2009 will be announced on Wednesday 10 December at a press conference at the Southbank Centre in London. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Monday 16 March 2009, the eve of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

The shortlist of the inaugural International Prize for Arabic Fiction consists of six books

All works submitted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction must be prose fiction in Arabic

Spokespeople for the Prize are: Jonathan Taylor CBE, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Joumana Haddad, Prize Administrator. To arrange an interview, please contact: Katy MacMillan-Scott at Colman Getty on 020 7631 2666 or katy@colmangetty.co.uk

This is the second year of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. For a full history of the prize visit the website: www.arabicfiction.org. The site features the rules of entry, background information and breaking news and is the quickest way for the prize�s worldwide audience to access information

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is funded by the Emirates Foundation, one of the leading philanthropic organisations in the UAE

An independent Board of Trustees, drawn from across the Arab world and beyond, is responsible for the overall management of the prize. The trustees are, in alphabetical order: Marie-Th�r�se Abdul-Messih, Professor of English & Comparative Literature, University of Cairo, Egypt; Dr. Peter Clark OBE, Independent Consultant and Writer, Middle East Cultural Advisory Services, UK; Riad El-Rayyes, Publisher, Riad El-Rayyes Books, Lebanon; Omar Saif Ghobash, Cultural Activist, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sasha Havlicek, Executive Director, Trialogue Educational Trust; Khaled Hroub, Arab journalist, UK; Farouk Mardam-Bey, Cultural Advisor, Institut du Monde Arabe, France; Hisham Matar, Novelist, Libya/UK; Ibrahim El Moallem, Publisher, ex-Head of Arab Publisher�s Union, Egypt; Zaki Nusseibeh, Advisor, Ministry of Presidential Affairs � Vice-Chairman, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage; Margaret Obank, Publisher and Editor, Banipal magazine of Modern Arab Literature, UK; William Sieghart Chairman & Founder, Forward Publishing, National Poetry Day, UK; Yasir Suleiman, Professor of Arabic, University of Cambridge, UK; Evelyn Smith, Company Secretary, Booker Prize Foundation, UK; Jonathan Taylor CBE, Chairman, Booker Prize Foundation, UK

For further information and press enquiries please contact
Katy MacMillan-Scott or Veronique Norton at Colman Getty
Tel: 020 7631 2666
E-mail: katy@colmangetty.co.uk / veronique@colmangetty.co.uk
Out of Office Hours: Katy MacMillan-Scott, +44 (0)7786567887