2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction Longlist: ‘From 1920s Cairo to Tunisia’s Ancient Book Markets to Famine in 1970s Jerusalem’

DECEMBER 14, 2023 — Former IPAF winner Raja Alem, with her latest novel Bahbel: Makkah Multiverse 1945-2009, was among those on the 16-book longlist for the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, announced today.

Other returnees to the longlist include Egyptian novelist Mohammed Abdel Nabi, Lebanese novelist Rashid al-Daif, and Algerian novelist Amin Zaoui.

This year’s 16 books — by authors from twelve countries, reaching from Morocco to Oman — were chosen by a panel of five distinguished judges chaired by Syrian writer Nabil Suleiman. The other four judges are Palestinian writer, researcher and academic Sonia Nimr; Czech academic František Ondráš; Egyptian critic and journalist Mohamed Shoair; and Sudanese writer and journalist Hammour Ziada.

The longlist was chosen from 133 submissions that were published in Arabic between July 2022 and June 2023.

The full list:

Organizers write that the novels “take readers from a racecourse in 1920s Cairo, to a rare book market in Tunisia; from the ancient houses of Baghdad, to a famine in 1970s Jerusalem,” as well as to the Comoros and the Congo. “A number of the books reflect on the act of creation, while other recurrent themes include war, exile, and impossible love.”

Nabil Suleiman, Chair of the 2024 judges, said, in a prepared statement:

The longlist for this year’s prize cycle comprises rich and varied narratives. A broad range of Arab countries are represented, resulting in the exploration of diverse experiences, settings, and characters. The list presents fictional characters who face complex societal issues, some old and others new, and topics such as the role of the arts, women’s rights, and cross-cultural interaction. Some novels explore individual, and others national, consciousness. They open up new perspectives by interrogating history to connect past and present struggles, particularly in places rocked by despotism, persecution, wars, uprisings, expulsions and exile. Each offers compelling and original narratives, and considered together, the list has a distinctly epic feel in scope and range.

The 2024 shortlist is set to be announced on February 14, 2024, with the winner announced April 28, 2024 in Abu Dhabi. The winner takes $50,000.