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A number of strong, female-led narratives are competing for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) after seven women writers were longlisted - the highest number in the prize’s history.
Collectively addressing important issues facing the Arab world, the 16-strong selection of novels was whittled down from 134 entries, with authors representing nine Arab countries in total. Among their number are books including a history of modern Iraq told through the eyes of a female journalist, the stories of women scattered across the globe after the Lebanese war and the experience of a female writer struggling to compete with her male counterparts.
The longlist was chosen by a panel of five judges chaired by Charafdin Majdolin, a Moroccan critic and academic, who specialises in Aesthetics, Verbal and Visual Narratives and Comparative Studies. Judging alongside Majdolin are Fowziyah AbuKhalid, a Saudi Arabian poet, writer, academic and researcher in social and political issues; Zulaikha Aburisha, a Jordanian poet, columnist, researcher and human and women’s rights activist; Zhang HongYi, a Chinese academic, translator and researcher; and Latif Zeitouni, a Lebanese academic and literary critic, who specialises in Narratology.
Of the 16 authors chosen, six have been acknowledged in the past by the prize, including Omaima Abdullah Al-Khamis, longlisted for The Leafy Tree in 2010; Hoda Barakat, longlisted for The Kingdom of the Earth in 2013; Inaam Kachachi, shortlisted for The American Granddaughter in 2009 and again in 2014 for Tashari; Waciny Laredj, longlisted on three occasions for The Andalusian House in 2011, Lolita's Fingers in 2013 and Ashes of the East: the Wolf who Grew Up in the Wilderness in 2014; May Menassa, shortlisted for Walking in the Dust in 2008; and Shahla Ujayli, who was shortlisted for A Sky Close to Our House in 2016.
The 10 authors making their first appearance on the longlist are Mohammed Abi Samra, Jalal Bargas, Adel Esmat, Maysalun Hadi, Huji Jaber, Mohammed Al-Maazuz, Mbarek Rabi, Habib Sayah, Iman Yehia and Kafa Al-Zou’bi.
The full 2019 longlist, listed in alphabetical order by author surname, is as follows:
Mohammed Abi Samra for Women Without Trace (Riyad al-Rayyes); Omaima Abdullah Al-Khamis for Voyage of the Cranes in the Cities of Agate (Dar Al Saqi); Hoda Barakat for The Night Mail (Dar al-Adab); Jalal Bargas for Women of the Five Senses (Arabic Institute for Research and Publishing); Adel Esmat for The Commandments (Kotob Khan); Maysalun Hadi for Mohammed's Brothers (Dar al-Dhakira); Huji Jaber for Black Foam (Dar Tanweer); Inaam Kachachi for The Outcast (Dar al-Jadid); Waciny Laredj for May — The Nights of Isis Copia (Dar al-Adab); Mohammed Al-Maazuz for What Sin Caused her to Die? (Cultural Book Centre); May Menassa for I Killed My Mother to Live (Riyad al-Rayyes); Mbarek Rabi for Western Mediterranean (Arabic Institute for Research and Publishing); Habib Sayah for Me and Haim (Dar Mim); Shahla Ujayli for Summer with the Enemy (Difaf Publishing); Iman Yehia for The Mexican Wife (Dar al-Shorouk); and Kafa Al-Zou’bi for Cold White Sun (Dar al-Adab).
A shortlist of six will be announced on 5th February 2019 and the winner will be revealed on 23rd April 2019 at an awards ceremony held at Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi on the eve of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.