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It's Time to Get Excited About the IPAF

posted on: Nov 13, 2017

 

The show Sunset Oasis was adopted from the IPAF-winning novel of the same name. (El Adl Group)

SOURCE: ALBAWABA

The Arab world’s most highly sought-after literary prize, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (or “the Arab Booker”), has seen a sharp decline in submitted titles this year—but not, thankfully, due to a decrease in output in Arabic literature.

Following new rules designed to combat submission volume-increasing workarounds, the 2018 IPAF has seen 124 submissions come in from 79 publishers.

Speaking to Arab Literature in English, IPAF administrator Fleur Montanaro said that authors from 14 different nationalities had their works submitted; around a quarter of these were women. The most-represented countries were Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.

The final longlist will be published in January, with the shortlist following in February.

The IPAF allows Arab authors to have their works translated into English, with some modern classics, including Sunset Oasis, The Bamboo Stalk, and The Arch and the Butterfly.