8 Finalists Announced for 2025 Prix de la Littérature Arabe

JULY 18, 2025 — Yesterday, the eight finalists for the 2025 Prix de la littérature arabe were announced, celebrating five works in translation and three works by Arab writers originally penned in French.

Je suis ma liberté, by Palestinian author Nasser Abu Srour, translated by Stéphanie Dujols (Gallimard), also available in Luke Leafgren’s English translation as The Tale of a Wall

Un goût de thé amer, by Libyan author Mohammed Alnaas, translated by Sarah Rolfo (Le bruit du monde); this team was also shortlisted in 2024 for Alnaas’s Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table.

La Naturalisation, by Tunisian author Zied Bakir (Grasset)

Je me regarderai dans les yeux, by Moroccan author Rim Battal (Bayard)

La Danse du paon, by Lebanese author Hanan al-Shaykh, translated by Khaled Osman (Sindbad/Actes Sud)

La fin du Sahara, by Algerian author Said Khatibi, translated by Lotfi Nia (Gallimard), forthcoming in Alex Elinson’s translation as The End of the Sahara (March 2026)

Brève histoire de la Création et de l’Est du Caire, by Egyptian author Shady Lewis, translated by Sophie Pommier and May Rostom (Sindbad/Actes Sud)

Pays amer, by Lebanese author Georgia Makhlouf (Les Presses de la Cité)

Organizers note that, in addition to the main 8,000-euro prize, there will also be a special mention given to one of the five translators.

Created in 2013, the Prix de la littérature arabe is one of the few French awards celebrating the literature of the Maghreb and Mashreq. The jury, chaired by award-winning author Alexandre Najjar, will meet in the fall to select the winner, which will be announced at a ceremony in Paris on November 18, 2025.

Previous winners include the inaugural winner, Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy, as well as Saudi novelist Mohammed Hasan Alwan, Iraqi novelist Inaam Kachachi, Egyptian novelist Mohammed Abdelnabi, Omani novelist Jokha Alharthi, and Tunisian novelist Amira Ghenim.

Also read:
On Translating ‘Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table,’ a Novel of ‘Profound Gentleness in a Violent Milieu’