International Prize for Arabic Fiction Releases 16-book Longlist of ‘Demanding’ Novels

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction’s 2016 longlist — which features 16 novels written by authors from nine countries — was released this morning:

Two previously shortlisted novelists are on the 2016 list: Palestinian writer Rabai al-Madhoun and Egyptian Mohamed Mansi Qandil, both of whom appeared on the IPAF’s 2010 shortlist.

The prize, popularly known as the “Arabic Booker,” won’t reveal the list of five judges until the shortlist is made public on February 9 in Muscat, Oman. But in this morning’s news release, the still-anonymous judging chair praised the 16 books, which she or he said deal “with their subjects in fresh and unconventional ways…using experimental language.”

Yasir Suleiman, chair of the prize’s Board of Trustees, called the novels “technically mature and sometimes demanding.”

Two writers made the list with a debut novel. Both were Moroccans: Tareq Bakari (with Numedia) and Abdennour Mezzine (with Letters of the Storm). The release boasts that three longlisted writers are under the age of 40, although it doesn’t mention that just two of the 16 longlisted writers are women.

An excerpt of Mohamed Rabie’s longlisted Otared, or Mercury, is already available in translation by Robin Moger.

The full list: