Mohamed Samir Nada’s ‘The Prayer of Anxiety’ Wins 2025 IPAF

APRIL 25, 2025 — Mohamed Samir Nada’s The Prayer of Anxiety has won the 2025 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF).

Judges selected the Egyptian writer’s novel from a shortlist of six that included books from across the region.

Set in late-1970s Egypt — a decade after the 1967 Naksa, or Setback — the book, organizers write, “is an interrogation of the commonly held narrative of the Naksa and subsequent Arab illusions of victory.” Yet Yasir Suleiman, chair of the IPAF board of trustees, says its setting in the ’70s does not make The Prayer of Anxiety a historical novel. Rather, he says, “The occasion of this war is cleverly used to probe the structure of political tyranny in an isolated and forgotten village in Egypt.”

The novel takes place in the village of Nag’ Al-Manassi in Upper Egypt, where inhabitants believe the village is surrounded by a minefield and thus that they cannot leave. They know little about the outside world and believe that the war between Egypt and Israel is ongoing, and that little Nag’ Al-Manassi is on the front lines. Khalil Al-Khoja, who represents the authorities, is the villagers’ only link with the outside world; he prints up the local paper and controls the flow of goods. When an unknown object falls on the village, an epidemic strikes. And, in an attempt at a cure, the local Sheikh invents a new prayer, the titular “Prayer of Anxiety.”

As the novel progresses, we see the world through the perspectives of eight different characters.

Mona Baker, Chair of the 2025 Judges, said in a prepared statement:

“The Prayer of Anxiety won because it successfully transforms anxiety into an aesthetic and intellectual experience that resonates with the reader and awakens them to pressing existential questions. Mohamed Samir Nada blends polyphony and symbolism with captivating poetic language, making reading a sensory experience where revelation intersects with silence, and truth with illusion. In this novel, ‘Nagaa al-Manasi’ is more than just a village in Upper Egypt; it becomes a metaphor for societies besieged by fear and authoritarianism, giving the novel dimensions that transcend geography and touch upon universal human themes.”

This was Mohamed Samir Nada’s third novel. For his day job, he works as a financial director for a tourism company in Cairo.

In addition to scholar Mona Baker, this year’s prize was judged by Said Bengrad, Maryam Al Hashimi, Bilal Orfali, and Sampsa Peltonen.

Also read:

An interview with author Mohamed Samir Nada