Four African Writers Are on the International Prize for Arabic Fiction Shortlist

by | Apr 1, 2021 | Gist Corner

                

Four African writers are on the shortlist for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2021. The writers are Abdulatif Ould Abdullah for The Eye of Hammurabi (Algeria), Amira Ghenim for Calamity of the Nobility (Tunisia), Abdelmeguid Sabata for File 42 (Morocco), and Habib Selmi, Longing for the Woman Next Door, (Tunisia).

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction seeks to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing and to encourage the readership of high-quality Arabic literature internationally through the translation and publication of winning and shortlisted novels in other major languages.

Chawki Bazih, Chair of the 2021 Judges, said: “The most obvious thing revealed by an in-depth examination of the six shortlisted novels is how the authors move away from the limits of the ego and are resourced by their ancestral roots, mother countries and shared memory. Their subjects may not be entirely new, since the Arab present is an exact copy of its past. However, what makes these works unique is something other than their subjects. It is their stylistic richness and power to astonish readers, making them catch their breath; their well-constructed, suspenseful plots; their successful deployment of folklore and the collective imagination, and their deft use of language, both flowing and tight.”

Professor Yasir Suleiman CBE, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “The novels in this shortlist enact complex and unsettling conversations between the past and the present to questions and notions of belonging, identity and the cacophonous rhythms of the homeland refracted through different registers, characters and story lines. Whether writing from home or from the diaspora, intra-culturally or inter-culturally, our writers coalesce on a vision of the contemporary Arab world which, in spite of its geographic scatter, seems to display troubling philosophical coherence. This is a strong shortlist that readers of the Arabic novel will remember and cherish for a long time.”

The winner of the award will be announced on May 25, 2021.

Visit here  to see other shortlisted writers