The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF, or “Arabic Booker”) organizers announced today that the six authors shortlisted for the 2011 prize were scheduled to arrive in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Today at approximately noon Qatar time (or 11 a.m.-ish here in Cairo), the six authors shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) 2011 will be announced at a press conference in Doha.
This may be the week of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, but the most delightful thing I read this week was Youssef Rakha’s “Virtually there,” in Al Ahram Weekly. (We’ll just blame an editor for the meaningless headline.)
The more interesting news, I think, is that submissions from female writers were up, with works by female writers forming 29% of the overall total. That’s up from 16% last year and 14% the year before.
