Moroccan Authors Vie for Prestigious Arab Literature Prize in Paris

Madi Belem is in the running with "The Cursed Tongue" while Youssef Fadel is nominated with "Don’t Call, No One’s There." The Arab World Institute (IMA) made this announcement, specifying that the selection of this 8th edition highlights the great diversity of Arab literature, through the novels of writers of several nationalities. These are Moroccan, Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian and Sudanese writers.

The Arab World Institute also specified that in addition to the novels by the two Moroccan authors, five other novels are included in the official selection for this year. These are "Weeds" by the Lebanese Dima Abdallah and "The Jango" by the Sudanese Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, translated from Arabic by Xavier Luffin. We also note "The Guest of the Medicis" by Carole Dagher from Lebanon, "A Bathtub in the Desert" by Jadd Hilal from Palestine and "The Last Syrian" by Omar Youssef Souleimane from Syria.

These novels were selected by a jury composed of eminent personalities from the world of the media, arts and culture as well as specialists in the Arab world. Among the jury members is the Moroccan painter and writer, Mahi Binebine, winner of the Arab Novel Prize in 2010.

Since its creation, the Arab Literature Prize has been awarded to Jabbour Douaihy (Lebanon) in 2013, Mohamed al-Fakharany (Egypt) in 2014, Mohammed Hasan Alwan (Saudi Arabia) in 2015, Inaam Kachachi (Iraq) in 2016. We find as laureates, Sinan Antoon (Iraq) in 2017, Omar Robert Hamilton (Egypt) in 2018 and Mohammed Abdelnabi (Egypt) in 2019 for his novel "The Spider’s Room" (Actes Sud / Sindbad).

Created in 2013 by the IMA and the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, the Arab Literature Prize is the only French award that distinguishes Arab literary creation. A selection committee examines the works recently published by French and Arab publishing houses and awards the prize in full transparency. This prize, endowed with an amount of 10,000 euros, promotes the work (novel or short story collection) of a writer from the Arab League and whose work is written or translated into French.