Moroccan Author Leïla Bahsaïn Shortlisted for Prestigious Arab Literature Prize

This year, the Prize is competing with Moroccan, Algerian, Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian writers. Winner of the Tangier Short Story Prize in 2011 and the "Méditerranée 2019" Prize with "The Sky Under Our Feet", Moroccan writer Leïla Bahsaïn is competing alongside six other authors from the Arab world, according to TelQuel.

According to the same source, with the book "The Sky Under Our Feet", published by Albin Michel, Leïla Bahsaïn signs a first novel with the allure of a modern tale in which she evokes the journey of a young Moroccan woman, from her childhood in her native country to her arrival in France. It is a novel that deals with the emancipation of women.

If the Moroccan woman managed to win this Prize, it would be the second time it has been awarded to a woman, since its creation by the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation and the IMA, the Arab Literature Prize has been awarded to the Lebanese Jabbour Douaihy in 2013, the Egyptian Mohamed Al Fakharany in 2014, the Saudi Mohammed Hasan Alwan in 2015, the Iraqi Inaam Kachachi in 2016, the Iraqi Sinan Antoon in 2017 and the Anglo-Egyptian Omar Robert Hamilton in 2018.