The books shortlisted for the seventeenth Worldwide Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) are actually identified. These embrace “Makkah Multiverse 1945-2009” by Raja Alem, “Suleima’s Ring” by Rima Bali, “The Seventh Heaven of Jerusalem” by Osama Al-Eissa, “A Masks, the Color of the Sky” by Basim Khandaqji, “Playing on the Honour of Girl Mitsy” by Ahmed Al-Morsi, and “The Mosaicist” by Eissa Nasiri.
The shortlist announcement passed off in Riyadh at a press convention led by the present Chair of Judges, Syrian author Nabil Suleiman. Different members included Palestinian author Sonia Nimr, Czech tutorial František Ondráš, Egyptian critic and journalist Mohamed Shoair, and Sudanese author and journalist Hammour Ziada. IPAF’s Chair of Trustees, Yasir Suleiman, and Prize Administrator Fleur Montanaro have been additionally current.
The authors on the shortlist embrace two girls and 4 males, spanning ages 31 to 60, and hailing from 5 completely different international locations. Every author brings a singular storytelling fashion, collectively delving into a various array of necessary and well timed themes. They’re as follows:
Nabil Suleiman, the Chair of Judges in 2024, expressed that the shortlisted novels present a deep exploration of fictional historical past, connecting the distant previous with the current and future. The narratives weave collectively numerous civilizations and artwork types, tackling themes like battle, physique, household dynamics, identification, oppression, and the collective human want for freedom and justice. These novels passionately have interaction with the present challenges, wars, exiles, and uprisings within the Arab world, providing various artistic expressions with a world perspective.
Professor Yasir Suleiman, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, highlighted that the shortlisted novels create a nuanced sense of place, reflecting a various tapestry of humanity. These tales deeply delve into the previous to uncover the current, leading to compelling narratives that emerge from damaged moments. The novels resonate with recollections of a disappearing previous, the pursuit of hope overshadowed by inevitable forgetfulness. They transport readers to historic Mecca, the troubled current of Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis, and the scarred metropolis of Aleppo. Remarkably, this marks the primary time a novel from an Israeli jail reaches readers past its literal partitions.
The recipient of the seventeenth Worldwide Prize for Arabic Fiction shall be revealed on Sunday, April 28, 2024, throughout a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. The occasion can even be accessible by way of on-line streaming.
IPAF goals to acknowledge excellence in up to date Arabic artistic writing and promote the worldwide readership of high-quality Arabic literature. That is achieved by way of translating and publishing profitable and shortlisted novels in main languages. Notable IPAF winners printed in English embrace Jalal Barjas’ “The Bookseller’s Notebooks” (2021) and Mohammed Alnaas’ “Bread on Uncle Milad’s Desk” (2022). The 2024 shortlist occasion collaborated with the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Fee.
