French ‘Prix de la Littérature Arabe’ Shortlists 7 Titles

Seven titles made the shortlist of the third edition of the “Prix de la littérature arabe,” announced June 17:

The prize recognizes “an emerging writer from a member country of the Arab League who has written a work (a novel or a collection of short stories or poems) published in French, or translated from Arabic to French, relating to the theme of Arab youth. The winner of the award receives €10,000.”

This year’s seven shortlisted titles are:

1. Femme interdite, or Forbiddan Woman, d’Ali al-Muqri (Liana Levi) ;
2. Le castor, or The Beaver, de Mohammed Hasan Alwan (Seuil) ;
3. L’Âne mort, or The Dead Donkey, de Chawki Amari (Barzakh) ;
4. La Langue du secret, or The Language of Secrets, de Najwa M. Barakat (Actes Sud) ;
5. Les quatre saisons du citronnier, or The Four Seasons of Lemons, de Souad Benkirane (Karthala) ;
6. Les Druzes de Belgrade, or Druze of Belgrade, de Rabee Jaber (Gallimard) ;
7. La Cigogne, or The Stork, d’Akram Musallam (Actes Sud).

The prize was created in 2013 by Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation and the Arab World Institute, chaired by Pierre Leroy. In 2013, Jabbour Douaihy won the inaugural prize for his St. George Was Looking Away, ( شريد المنازل), which was translated by Stephanie Dujols. The second prize went in 2014 to Mohammad al-Fakharany for his La traversée du K.-O, translated by Marianne Babut.

The 2015 prize is set to be awarded on October 14, 2015 during a ceremony at the Arab World Institute.