THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR
ARABIC FICTION 2009

Shortlist Announced

Mohammad Al-Bisatie, Fawwaz Haddad, Inaam Kachachi, Ibrahim Nasrallah, Habib Selmi and Yusuf Zaydan are the six authors shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2009, the prestigious literary prize which aims to recognise and reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing and to encourage wider readership of such Arabic literature internationally through translation. The prize was launched in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in April 2007 in association with the Booker Prize Foundation and with the support of the Emirates Foundation.

The shortlist was announced by the chair of judges, Youmna el Eid, at a press conference at the Southbank Centre in London today (Wednesday 10 December 2008).

The prestigious panel of judges, who were also revealed today, come from Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Germany - all specialists in the field of Arabic literature - met in London this week to decide the list of six books.

The six shortlisted books were chosen from over 121 titles and are as follows (in alphabetical order);
                       

Youmna el Eid, the chair of judges, said: “This shortlist was chosen following open discussion amongst the judges. We chose these titles because they contain all the creative characteristics which make Arabic fiction unique.”

The judging panel for the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction is: Youmna el Eid (chair of judges), Lebanese academic and literary critic; Rasheed El-Enany, Egyptian Professor of modern Arabic literature and Director of Arab Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter; Hartmut Faehndrich, German translator of Arabic literature; Mohammad al Murr, Emirati writer, journalist and Head of Dubai Cultural Council; Fakhri Saleh, Jordanian critic, journalist and authority on contemporary Arabic literature. 
                                                                                                                      
At today’s press conference, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Jonathan Taylor, commented: “Although only in its second year, the prize is well and firmly established. The winner and shortlist from the first year are now being translated into many languages and we are thus succeeding in a major objective to bring the best of contemporary Arabic fiction to a wider public. I am sure this shortlist will be equally successful.”

The Managing Director of the Emirates Foundation, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, commented: "The Foundation is delighted to see this particularly noteworthy shortlist for the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, following the competitive longlist issued by the judges last month. We are proud to continue our support for IPAF in 2009, especially after its successful launch earlier this year."

The 2009 prize has received a total of 131 submissions from 16 countries, as follows: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Algeria, Oman, Eritria and Kuwait. 104 of the novels submitted were by male authors and 17 entries by female writers. The longlist of 16 titles was announced this November and included authors from 10 countries across the Arab World, and included the two female authors Renée Hayek and Inaam Kachachi.

Joumana Haddad, the Prize’s Administrator, commented: “The remarkable success of the 2008 shortlist, with many translation deals secured for all 6 authors, is yet another stimulus for IPAF to develop new ways to promote Arabic literature, and to provide its longlisted, shortlisted and winning writers with more publishing and publicity opportunities worldwide”.

Not only can writers shortlisted for the prize look forward to reaching wider audiences and potentially securing publishing deals – both within the Arab World and internationally – but they will also each receive $10,000. The final winner will receive an additional $50,000.

The winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2009 will be announced at an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Monday 16 March 2009, immediately prior to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Plans for the translation of the 2009 winner and shortlist are currently in discussion.

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Hunger - Muhammad Al-Bisatie
Al Adab, Beirut, 2008

Hunger is a detailed account of the ordinary lives of those at the very bottom of society, sufferers of continuous hunger. Through a detached yet intimate portrait of the day-to-day lives, Egyptian author Mohamed El-Bisatie explores how, despite their sufferings, these neglected people are still able to reflect on human existence and ask questions about their surroundings.

The Unfaithful Translator - Fawwaz Haddad
Riad el Rayyes, Beirut, 2008

The Unfaithful Translator, by Syrian author Fawaz Haddad, tells the story of a translator accused of betrayal due to his non-conformist views on the purpose of translation and the importance of creativity, thought, culture and civilisation. As a result, the translator builds a broad network of literary figures, journalists and critics in a campaign to establish that the art of writing – in its many forms – is essentially human and associated with freedom and life, and therefore rejects submission or subjection to exploitation, negotiation, opportunism or extortion.

The American Granddaughter - Inaam Kachachi
Dar Al-Jadid, Beirut, 2008

The American Granddaughter, by Iraqi author Inaam Kachachi, depicts the American occupation of Iraq through the eyes of a young American-Iraqi woman, who returns to her country as an interpreter for the US Army. Through the narrator’s conflicting emotions, we see the tragedy of a country which, having battled to emerge from dictatorship, then finds itself under foreign occupation.

Time of White Horses - Ibrahim Nasrallah
Arab Scientific Publishers, Beirut and Algiers, 2007

Charting the history of three generations of a Palestinian family in a small village, Jordanian author Ibrahim Nasrallah’s saga novel is a descendant of a genre introduced in Arabic fiction by Naguib Mahfouz’s famous Cairo Trilogy. Through the lives of the members of this family, Nasrallah depicts the tragedy of a whole nation under changing historical circumstances: the Ottoman rule, the British Mandate and the Nakba (the catastrophe of the Jewish occupation of Palestinian land in 1948) to the expulsion of the Palestinians and finally the post-Nakba era.

The Scents of Marie-Claire - Habib Selmi
Dar El-Adab, Beirut, 2008

Following a well-established tradition in modern Arabic fiction, Tunisian author Al-Habib Al-Salmi’s novel explores the cultural encounter/clash between East and West. Al-Salmi explores this theme through the relationship between an Arab man and a Western woman, each embodying the value system of their respective cultures.

Beelzebub - Yusuf Zaydan
Dar al Shorouk, Cairo, 2008

For more info about the 6 shortlisted writers, click here.

To get the six shortlisted novels, click here.

Set in fifth century Upper Egypt, Alexandria and northern Syria, Egyptian author Yussef Zeydan’s story unfolds during a critical point in Christian history. Focusing on the period following the Roman Empire’s adoption of the 'new' religion, the novel highlights the subsequent internal doctrinal conflicts rising amongst the fathers of the Church on the one hand, and between the 'new' believers and receding paganism on the other.

Notes to Editors

• Sunset Oasis, by Egyptian author Bahaa Taher, won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2008. Sunset Oasis is currently being translated into English by acclaimed translator of Arab literature Humphrey Davies. Funded by Sigrid Rausing, the translation of Sunset Oasis will be published in the UK by Sceptre (an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd) in late summer 2009.

• The 2009 longlist of 16 books is as follows:

• All works submitted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction must be prose fiction in Arabic. The shortlist of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction consists of six books

• 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-Thérèse 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 and Ambassador, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sasha Havlicek, Executive Director, Trialogue Educational Trust; Khaled Hroub, Palestinian writer and academic based in the 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

Joumana Haddad, administrator of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, can be contacted at: info@arabicfiction.com

Colman Getty
December 2008