Tunisia’s 2015 Golden Comar Prizes to Shukri al-Mabkhout, Anouar Attia

Last Saturday, the winners of the 19th annual Golden Comar Prize were announced at the Municipal Theatre of Tunis:

According to a report in Ali Znaidi’s Tunisian Literature (in English), the top Arabic prize was awarded to Shukri al-Mabkhout for his debut novel, The Italian, which is also the only Tunisian novel shortlisted for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

The top French prize was meanwhile awarded to Anouar Attia for his novel The Three Graces.

Other Arabic-language prizes included a “Special Jury Prize,” awarded to Jamel Jlassi for his novel Bey El Orbane and a “Discovery Prize” awarded to Nabil Gueddiche for his novel The Sunflower. A French-language “Discovery Prize” went to Sami Mokaddem for his novel Nineteen. The French “Special Jury Prize” was not awarded this year.

Znaidi reported that 29 Arabic novels and 11 French novels had been nominated to compete for the prizes. The Arabic judging chair was journalist Hayett Saieb, and the French judging effort was led by university professor and literary critic Meriem Belkhadhi.

More:

Shukri al-Mabkhout – ‘The Italian’

Tunisian Novelist Shukri al-Mabkhout: ‘We Have To Be Merciful Toward Our Intellectuals’

 IPAF Interview with al-Mabkhout