Longlist for the $50k International Prize for Arabic Fiction announced

Saudi author Raja Alem, the joint winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) in 2011, has been longlisted for the award again this year for her book Bahbel (Dar Tanweer). The longlist features 16 novels in contention for the $50,000 (£39,580) prize, which will be awarded to the ultimate winner next April. 

This year’s list includes four authors who have been previously recognised by IPAF, including Mohammed Abdel Nabi, the Egyptian author of Nearly Every Day (Markez al-Mahrusa), who was longlisted in 2013 and shortlisted in 2016. Lebanese author Rashid al-Daif, also longlisted in 2012, is on the list this year for The Other Face of the Shadow (Dar Al Saqi), while Algerian author Amin Zaoui, longlisted in 2013 and 2018, is in the running with The Idols (Editions Daliman Algeria). 

The longlisted authors hail from 11 different counties, from Palestine to Morocco. Badriya Albadri, an author from Oman, is in the running with Foumbi (Dar Al Saqi), while Iraqi author Sara Alsarraf is vying for the award for her novel I Heard Everything (Dar al-Hikma). Syrian writer Rima Bali is longlisted for Suleima’s Ring (Tanmia Publishing) and Palestinian author Osama al-Eissa is longlisted for The Seventh Heaven of Jerusalem (Al-Mutawassit). 

Tunisia is also represented on this year’s list by Dorra al-Fazi’s I Hide Passion (Sindbad), while Saleh al-Hamad, an author from Saudi Arabia, is on the list for Eye of the Kite (Dar Rashm). Another Palestinian author, Basim Khandaqji, is on this year’s longlist, for A Mask, the Colour of the Sky (Dar al-Adab), and Algerian author Ahmed Menour is longlisted for Storm Over the Islands (Dar al-Tanweer). 

Egyptian author Ahmed al-Morsi is longlisted for Gambling on the Honour of Lady Mitsy (Dar Dawen) and Moroccan writer Eissa Nasiri is on the list for The Mosaicist (Masciliana). Salha Obeid from the United Arab Emirates is longlisted for Spice Circle (Al-Mutawassit) and Tunisian author Sufyan Rajab is longlisted for Reader of the Tanners’ Alley (Masciliana), while Algerian author Amin Zaoui is on the list for The Idols (Editions Daliman). 

The novels take readers from a racecourse in 1920s Cairo to a rare book market in Tunisia, and from ancient houses in Baghdad to a famine in 1970s Jerusalem. The books also feature customs and traditions of territories new to Arabic literature, such as the Comoros islands and the Belgian Congo. 

The list has been chosen from a total of 133 books published in Arabic between July 2022 and June 2023 by a panel of five judges, chaired by Syrian writer Nabil Suleiman. Joining him are Palestinian writer, researcher and academic Sonia Nimr, Czech academic František Ondráš, Egyptian critic and journalist Mohamed Shoair, and Sudanese writer and journalist Hammour Ziada. 

Suleiman, chair of the 2024 judges, said: "The longlist for this year’s prize cycle comprises rich and varied narratives. A broad range of Arab countries are represented, resulting in the exploration of diverse experiences, settings, and characters ... Each offers compelling and original narratives, and considered together, the list has a distinctly epic feel in scope and range."