The International Prize for Arabic Fiction has today announced the longlist of 16 novels in contention for the 2014 prize. Those selected were chosen from 156 entries from 18 countries, all published within the last 12 months.
The 16 longlisted authors are:
Ibrahim Abdelmeguid (Egyptian) for Clouds Over Alexandria
Badryah El-Bishr (Saudi Arabian) for Love Stories on al-Asha Street
Antoine Douaihy (Lebanese) for The Bearer of the Purple Rose
Amir Tag Elsir (Sudanese) for 366
Youssef Fadel (Moroccan) for A Rare Blue Bird that Flies with Me
Ismail Ghazali (Moroccan) for The Season of Pike Fishing
Ismail Fahd Ismail (Kuwaiti) for The Phoenix and the Faithful Friend
Inaam Kachachi (Iraqi) for Tashari
Khaled Khalifa (Syrian) for No Knives in this City's Kitchens
Ashraf al-Khamaisi (Egyptian) for God's Land of Exile
Waciny Laredj (Algerian) for Ashes of the East: The Wolf who Grew Up in the Wilderness
Abdelrahim Lahbibi (Moroccan) for The Journeys of 'Abdi, known as Son of Hamriya
Ahmed Mourad (Egyptian) for The Blue Elephant
Ibrahim Nasrallah (Jordanian-Palestinian) for The Edge of the Abyss
Abdel Khaliq al-Rikabi (Iraqi) for The Sad Night of Ali Baba
Ahmed Saadawi (Iraqi) for Frankenstein in Baghdad
The books were selected by a panel of five judges, whose names will be announced in Amman, Jordan, on February 10, at the same time as the 2014 shortlist.
The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on April 29, the eve of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
