Emirates Airline Festival of Literature: Claudine Pabst takes top prize for young-adult novel

Claudine Pabst's young adult fantasy story 'The Reluctant Thief' wins the Montegrappa First Fiction Competition at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

From left, the literary agent Luigi Bonomi, Claudine Pabst and Charles Nahhas, managing director of Montegrappa Middle East. Courtesy Emirates Festival of Literature

News that Claudine Pabst won this year’s Montegrappa First Fiction Competition, with a prize that includes a meeting with a top British book agent in London, will come as a shock to many of her friends.

That’s because the Dubai-based author, originally from New York, kept her participation a secret from them.

“Like many aspiring writers, I was shy about showing my work,” she said. “Reading about the past winners of the Montegrappa First Fiction Competition and their incredible journeys is what inspired me to enter the competition this year.”

The third edition of the competition concluded on Friday with an award ceremony held in Dubai as part of the seventh edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

Pabst won for her young-adult fantasy story The Reluctant Thief, Kim Adams' techno-drama The 9 Lives of Catherine Lewis was second, and in third place was Steven Bainbridge for his Japan- and Korea-set mystery novel Comfort Men.

The Reluctant Thief centres on a teenage girl, Mara Bloom, who upon entering a new universe uses her powers to save its people.

The competition judge, the British literary agent Luigi Bonomi, praised Pabst’s gripping narrative and colourful characters.

"I was hooked from the opening paragraph of Claudine's manuscript," he said. "She has crafted her story and writing to appeal to a young-adult audience — an extremely difficult task to accomplish. What is even more commendable is that Claudine has created a relatable but offbeat protagonist that sets her apart from other young-adult writers. I have high hopes for The Reluctant Thief."

As part of her prize, Pabst will travel to the London Book Fair next month with Bonomi to discuss publication of her novel. The inaugural winner, Annabel Kantaria, is having her debut novel Coming Home published in the UK in May.

Bonomi said he had his work cut out this year because the competition received more than 130 submissions.

“The quality of the entries keeps improving, making it so much harder to choose winners,” he said. “The diversity in ideas and genres, as is evident from the winners, is testament to the multicultural nature of Dubai’s society. Most entrants come to Dubai to do demanding jobs; that they should also find the time to write such terrific fiction is something that they should all be very proud of, as indeed should [the organisers of ] the festival for giving them a platform.”