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Naguib Mahouz Medal Announces 2026 Lit Shortlist

AUGUST 31, 2026 — Yesterday evening, American University in Cairo Press announced the shortlist for the 2026 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature. The prize, now in its twentieth year, only recently began announcing a shortlist ahead of its annual winner.

This year’s shortlist includes titles from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine:

  1. This Is Not a Bullet — Abdullah Nasser (Saudi Arabia). Publisher: Al Karma Publishers
  2. The Origin of the Species — Ahmad Abdulatif (Egypt). Publisher: Hayat Publishing
  3. Longa-Cairo Nuweiba — Ganna Adel (Egypt). Publisher: Waziz Books
  4. A Swiss Summer — Inaam Kachachi (Iraq). Publisher: Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah
  5. No Mail to Gaza — Mohamed Jubaiti (Palestine). Publisher: Dar Al Adab
  6. An Old Egyptian Madness — Talal Faisal (Egypt). Publisher: Diwan Publishing

According to organizers, this year’s six shortlisted titles were chosen from 143 novels submitted from 23 countries. This year’s panel of judges is chaired by literary scholar Hoda Elsadda,

Several of the books on this year’s shortlist have been celebrated by other prizes, including Inaam Kachachi’s A Swiss Summer (which made the Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s 2026 longlist) and Ahmad Abdulatif’s The Origin of the Species (which made the International Prize for Arabic Fiction’s 2026 shortlist).

The annual winner — who earns $5000 and a contract to be published by AUC Press — is typically announced on December 11, the day Egypt’s Nobel laureate for literature was born.

Readers can find more about the six shortlisted novels at the AUC Press website.