7-book Shortlist for 2024 Prix de la Littérature Arabe

JULY 15, 2024 — On Saturday, July 13, the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation and the Arab World Institute announced the shortlist for the eleventh annual  of Prix de la Littérature Arabe, which celebrates Arab authors who write in French or have been translated into the language.

The prize — one of the few in French that focus on Arab literary works — grants its winner €10,000.This year, as last year, about half were translated from Arabic and half written in French.

The 2024 shortlist:

Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table by Mohammed Alnaas, translated from Arabic to French by Sarah Rolfo (Le bruit du monde)

El-Razi’s Notebooks by Aymen Daboussi, translated from Arabic to French by Lofti Nia (Philippe Rey – Barzakh – Khamsa collection)

Bientôt les vivants by Amina Damerdji (Gallimard)

Le palais Mawal by Dominique Eddé (Albin Michel)

A Calamity of Noble Houses by Amira Ghenim, translated from Arabic to French by Souad Labbize (Philippe Rey – Barzakh – Khamsa collection)

L’Éden à l’aube by Karim Kattan (Elyzad)

Il faut revenir by d’Hala Moughanie (Project’îles)

Since its creation in 2013, the prize has gone to more than a dozen writers from across the region, including Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy, Saudi writer Mohammed Hasan Alwan, Iraqi novelist Inaam Kachachi, Egyptian novelist Mohammed Abdelnami, Omani writer Jokha Alharthi, Tunisian writer Yaman Manai, and Sudanese novelist Hammour Ziada.Last year’s prize went to Feurat Alani for his I Remember Fallujah, which is set to appear this fall in English translation in by Adriana Hunter.

This year’s winner is set to be announced on November 27, 2024.