Azhar Writing Prize Announces Its 2026 Winners

JULY 6, 2026 — The Azhar Writing Prize — a prize for new, unpublished work in English by Arab writers — today announced its first-, second- and third-place winners, as well as one honorable mention. The three winners will share a total prize pool of £3850.

This year’s prize was judged by Rana Asfour and Malu Halasa.

The first prize went to Natalia Boumatar, for her short story, “Seven Plates,” which judges praised as “poetic and mysterious,” saying it was “rooted in the idea that family can be reconstituted, even conjured, despite violence and abandonment.”

Judges wrote:

“In ‘Seven Plates’, the young female narrator cares for an elderly woman with dementia who lives with her ageing husband. The couple, like the narrator and her brother who reside in an unfinished building, have lost contact with their wider families because of an unnamed war or conflict that has scarred the surrounding landscape. This poetic and mysterious story is rooted in the idea that family can be reconstituted, even conjured, despite violence and abandonment. Dementia is used to dramatic effect in the short story’s accomplished denouement.”

Second prize went to Lara Atallah, for an excerpt from a longer story, “Inclement Weather.” Of the story, judges said:

“The challenge of an excerpt is that it must carry a great deal of weight, by capturing the larger work’s central themes in very little space. ‘Inclement Weather’ does this effectively through a newly divorced Lebanese woman’s journey to her hometown of Beirut. Rather than telling the familiar story of a woman seeking freedom in the West, it traces an inverse trajectory: one that returns her to relatives whose likely disapproval of her divorce smacks of colonialism. The excerpt ends with an unexpected layover in Paris, hinting at the possibility and uncertainty of her still-unsettled new life, and leaving the reader wanting to know more.”

Meanwhile, third prize went to author-translator Wiam El-Tamami, for her short story “The Fruit Tree,” of which judges said:

“‘The Fruit Tree’ is a fable that draws on the fruits of Palestine – pomegranate, quince, fig, and others. It also plays with language: the Arabic names of the fruit are the names of the families who own the different orchards. Inspired by Calvino’s ‘The Black Sheep’, the story becomes an allegory of how under close communities can fracture outside pressure. Eventually they come together again, only to be broken apart once more by another unexpected force.”

Dwan Kaoukji’s short story “In Transit” received a honorable mention.

According to organizers, The Azhar Writing Prize for 2027 will open in December of this year. They write: “Submissions of fiction and creative non-fiction, up to 1,000 words, must be in English. Winning entries translated from Arabic into English will include a translator’s award of £250–£500.”