Rules of Entry

Submissions for the 2020 Prize are now closed

Download a copy of the Submission form in Arabic.

• IPAF is dedicated to the literary novel. Books of short stories or collections of poetry are not eligible

• Electronic books are not eligible

• Authors cannot submit their own work: submissions are to be made by eligible publishers but this must be done in consultation with the authors.

• An eligible publisher is one who has been in business at least 2 years and who is an active publisher with a catalogue or list of its fiction titles demonstrating its activity and which is publicly available

•The number of novels an eligible publisher can submit will depend on that publisher’s inclusion in longlists from 2015 to 2019, as follows:

1 submission – publishers with no longlisting

2 submissions – publishers with 1 or 2 longlisting(s)

3 submissions – publishers with 3 or 4 longlistings

4 submissions – publishers with 5 or more longlistings

The longlists for 2015 to 2019 are set out below.

• Self published novels or novels which have been published via a commercial arrangement through which the publisher is paid by the author are not eligible. If the publisher is a company then if the novel is by the person who owns the majority shareholding or otherwise controls the company it is not eligible.

• The novel must be published between July 2018 and June 2019

• The novel must be written in Arabic: Arabic translations of a book originally written in any other language are not eligible

• Authors must be living at the time of the award

• Only one novel is accepted per author, and manuscripts are not eligible

• Every novel submitted must have an ISBN number

• A novel which has first been published in installments (in print or online) before July 2017 is not eligible. This prohibition applies to any type of publishing or publication

• The novel must respect publishing rights and copyrights of the Arab country where it has been published and any novel which is published without the permission of the original author and/or publisher is not eligible.

• The publisher must submit seven copies of each novel, along with the application forms, to the Administrator’s address: Fleur Montanaro, IPAF, 100 Hill House, 210 Upper Richmond Road, London SW15 6NP, UK

• The judging panel has the right, at its discretion, to consider novels published between July 2018 and June 2019 which have not been submitted by publishers. The process by which this happens is known as 'calling-in'. The Administrator, acting at the request of the judging panel, invites the relevant publisher to send in the novel requested by the judging panel (7 copies and with the details required on the application form as for normal submissions). The work 'called-in' will not be counted as part of the publisher’s submissions quota.

• If a publisher submits a novel by an author who has previously been shortlisted for the Prize, this work will not be counted in the publisher’s submissions quota, that is, it is accepted automatically and in addition to the works which the publisher is otherwise allowed to submit.

• As set out above the closing date of submissions is 30 June 2019 and this is strictly enforced – submissions must be received by this date

• The Administrator of the Prize is unable to return any books entered by publishers or called in by the judges

• The decisions of the Judges at all stages of each prize cycle (longlist, shortlist and winner) are final and cannot be subject to objection

• All submissions are made on a confidential basis

• If a submitted novel is longlisted, the publisher must send ten further copies of the novel to the Administrator immediately after the longlist announcement

• By allowing publishers to submit their novels, authors are deemed to agree that if they are shortlisted, they will be available for promotional activities such as tours and media appearances related to the Prize, both in the Arab world and abroad

• IPAF reserves the right to reject any novel that does not comply with the conditions set out above and its decision is final; it may impose other sanctions as it sees fit.

International Prize for Arabic Fiction Longlists from 2015 to 2019
*Shortlisted novels are marked with an asterisk

2019

Women without Trace by Mohammed Abi Samra

Voyage of the Cranes in the Cities of Agate by Omaima Abullah Al-Khamis

The Night Mail by Hoda Barakat

Women of the Five Senses by Jalal Bargas

The Commandments by Adel Esmat

Mohammed's Brothers by Maysalun Hadi

Black Foam by Haji Jaber

The Outcast by Inaam Kachachi

May- The Nights of Isis Copia by Waciny Laredj

What Sin Caused her to Die? by Mohammed Al-Maazuz

I Killed My Mother in Order to Live by May Menassa

Western Mediterranean by Mbarek Rabi

Me and Haim by Habib Sayah

Summer with the Enemy by Shahla Ujayli

The Mexican Wife by Iman Yehia

Cold White Sun by Kafa Al-Zou'bi

2018
The Earthen Fortress by Ahmad Abdulatif
Christina by Atef Abu Saif
Passion by Rasha Adly
Huddud's House by Fadi Azzam
The Last Country by Antoine Douaihy
Flowers in Flames by Amir Tag Elsir*
The Critical Case of “K” by Aziz Mohammed*
The Second War of the Dog by Ibrahim Nasrallah*
Here is the Rose by Amjad Nasser
The Black Peacock by Hamed al-Nazir
The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi*
Al-Najdi by Taleb al-Refai
Heir of the Tombstones by Walid Shurafa*
The Frightened by Dima Wannous*
Ali, the Story of an Honourable Man by Hussein Yassin
Leg Over Leg - in the Sighting of the Lovers' Crescent by Amin Zaoui

2017
Hot Maroc by Yassin Adnan
One Room Is Not Enough by Sultan Al Ameemi
A Small Death by Mohammed Hasan Alwan*
Index by Sinan Antoon
The Slave Pens by Najwa Binshatwan*
The Witches' Resort by Amir Tag Elsir
Swastika by Ali Ghadeer
The Year of the Radio by Renée Hayek
Days of Dust by Zuheir al-Hiti
The North Africans by Abdul-Kareem Jouaity
The Slaughter of the Philosophers by Taissier Khalaf
Children of the Ghetto – My name is Adam by Elias Khoury*
In the Spider’s Room by Mohammed Abdel Nabi*
The Bookseller’s Murder by Saad Mohammed Raheem*
Paolo by Youssef Rakha

2016
Here by Taleb al-Refai
Hymns of Temptation by Laila al-Atrash
Numedia by Tareq Bakari*
The Temple of Silken Fingers by Ibrahim Farghali
People of the Palms by Janan Jasim Halawi
Mariam's Journey by Mahmoud Hasan al-Jasim
Desertified Waters by Hazim Kamaledin
Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nabka by Rabai al-Madhoun*
Letters of the Storm by Abdennour Mezzine
Warsaw a Little While Ago by Ahmed Muhsin
The Prophecy of Saqqa by Hamed al-Nazir
The Black Brigade by Mohamed Mansi Qandil
Merucy by Mohamed Rabi*
Praise for the Women of the Family by Madmoud Shukair*
A Sky Close to Our House by Shahla Ujayli*
Guard of the Dead by George Yaraq*

2015
A Suspended Life by Atef Abu Saif*
Far from Clamour, Close to Silence by Mohammed Berrada
Drowning in Lake Morez by Antoine Douaihy
The American Neighbourhood by Jabbour Douaihy
Floor 99 by Jana Elhassan*
Diamonds and Women by Lina Huyan Elhassan*
Dont Tell Your Nightmare! by Abdel Wahab al-Hamadi
Female Voices by Maha Hassan
Riyam and Kafa by Hadia Hussein
Sharp Turning by Ashraf al-Khamaisi
Graphite by Hisham al-Khashin
The Italian by Shukri Mabkhout*
Willow Alley by Ahmed al-Madeeni*
The Daughter of Suslov by Habib Abdulrab Sarori
The Size of a Grape by Muna al-Sheemi
The Longing of the Dervish by Hammour Ziada*