An end-of-year survey by popular Egyptian TV host Mona al-Shazly found Egyptian fans picking Ahmed Mourad’s latest novel as their favorite of 2016 by a fair margin:
The author of hit thrillers like Vertigo, which was translated into English by Robin Moger, and the International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted Blue Elephant, proved he continues to produce best-selling and beloved novels.
The “With Mona Shazly” Best of the Year voting was divided into 13 main categories, including best film, best novel, best actor, best football player, and best pop singer.
According to Daily News Egypt, the votes were collected “by distributing 3,000 paper questionnaires all over Egypt with the help of 200 media students, in addition to the online voting process in which about 100,000 participated.”
Mourad’s Land of God won with 54% of the total vote.
According to Shorouk News, those up for the “best novel” slot, in addition to Mourad, were popular and award-winning novelists Ibrahim Eissa, for his Journey of Blood; Youssef Ziedan, for his Light; Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq for In the Mice’s Corridor; and Ammar Ali Hassan for Sennari’s House.
Previously on ArabLit:
Ahmed Mourad on Adapting Books to Film: Examine the Text ‘And Have a Conversation with It. Bargain.’
Ahmed Mourad: ‘I Am a Tough Reader’
Ahmed Mourad at the Mantua Book Festival: a Snaphsot of the New Generations of Egypt
5 Questions with Robin Moger on Translating Ahmed Mourad’s ‘Vertigo’
