International Prize for Arabic Fiction longlist recognises five women and – for the first time – two brothers

Fascinating narratives from Palestine, Egypt and Iraq that made the list certainly suggested contemporary, issue-based storytelling is as strong as ever.

Jana Elhassan during the International Prize for Arabic Fiction award ceremony at the Rocco Forte hotel in Abu Dhabi. Pawan Singh / The National

After a number of years in which women writers were largely overlooked, there were five female names included when the 2015 International Prize for Arabic Fiction longlist was announced last week, including the highly rated Lebanese author Jana Elhassan. For the first time, two brothers – fellow Lebanese writers Antoine and Jabbour Douaihy – made the longlist, while fascinating narratives from Palestine, Egypt and Iraq certainly suggested contemporary, issue-based storytelling is as strong as ever. And there were a record 180 entries for the judges to peruse and whittle down to the final 16.

The five judges and the prize’s shortlist will be announced on February 13 at the Casablanca International Book Fair.

The winner for the prize, which is run with the support of the Booker Prize Foundation in London and funded by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, will be announced on May 6, on the eve of the Abu Dhabi Book Fair.

Atef Abu Saif for A Suspended Life (Palestine)

Who is he?

A Palestinian writer, editor and professor who shot to prominence last year after his war diaries were published in The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The New York Times. Abu Saif also edited and contributed to The Book of Gaza, translated into English last year by Comma Press.

What’s it about?

It's perhaps not surprising to see Gaza ­narratives impress the judges this year, and A Suspended Life looks at how residents of a refugee camp react when a popular printer is murdered.

Mohammed Berrada for Far From Clamour, Close to Silence (Morocco)

Who is he? Berrada might be familiar to dedicated IPAF-watchers: he was one of the judges for the very first prize in 2008. Considered one of Morocco’s best writers, the 76-year-old has had two previous novels translated into ­English.

What’s it about?

Using Berrada's huge experience, Far From Clamour, Close to Silence features four Moroccan characters from four different generations who represent the hopes and dreams of the country over 50 years.

Antoine Douaihy for Drowning In Lake Morez (Lebanon)

Who is he?

You might recognise the Douaihy name – his brother Jabbour has been shortlisted for IPAF twice (and has been longlisted again this year). Antoine was longlisted last year for The Bearer of the Purple Rose.

What’s it about?

Douaihy lived in France for decades and Drowning in Lake Morez explores the long-distance relationship between a Lebanese man and a French woman caught between two worlds.

Jabbour Douaihy for The American Neighbourhood (Lebanon)

Who is he?

Probably the most famous male author on the list. IPAF has been good to Jabbour Douaihy. After two of his books were shortlisted, June Rain was published in English last year, with The National praising its complexity and urgency.

What’s it about?

The American Neighbourhood – so called because it's where jihadis are recruited to fight the Americans – rubs up against a posher district of a Lebanese city in this narrative of contradiction and cohabitation.

Jana Elhassan for Floor 99 (Lebanon)

Who is she?

From the most famous male author on the list to the most famous female. Jana Elhassan is the other previously shortlisted writer to have another shot at glory, after Me She and the Other Woman looked at women trapped in marriage.

What’s it about?

Floor 99 takes place in both Lebanon and the United States before 9/11, with a young Palestinian falling in love with a woman from a wealthy family linked with the famous 1982 massacres at Sabra and Shatila.

Lina Huyan Elhassan for Diamonds and Women (Syria)

Who is she?

Encouragingly Elhassan is a graduate of IPAF’s nadwa literary workshop for young authors. Now living in Lebanon, she’s worked as a journalist for the past 12 years.

What’s it about?

Focusing on two generations of Arab exiles in Paris, Sao Paulo and Damascus, Diamonds and Women looks back at the 20th century through the eyes of the Arab heroine Almaz.

Abdel Wahab al-Hamadi for Don't Tell Your Nightmare! (Kuwait)

Who is he?

A man of many talents, the 35 year-old al-Hamadi works for a petrochemical company, writes for a newspaper, runs a tourism company and somehow finds time to write novels.

What’s it about?

Uncovering the darker side of Kuwaiti society before the Arab Spring, Don't Tell Your Nightmare! follows Bassam, a young man on a quest to find his lover and the meaning of a nightmarish dream.

Maha Hassan for Female Voices (Syria)

Who is she?

The award-winning Syrian/Kurdish novelist was longlisted for Umbilical Cord in 2011, and writes in Arabic and French. She lives in self-imposed exile in Paris after her writing was banned in Syria for being "morally ­condemnable".

What’s it about?

Probably the most stylistically tricksy of the longlisted books, Female Voices' intertwined stories are written from the point of view of an author writing a novel.

Hadia Hussein for Riyam And Kafa (Iraq)

Who is she?

Although she left Iraq for Canada in 1999, Hussein has nevertheless continued to fashion fine narratives set in her mother country – After Love has been translated into English, as have some of her short stories.

What’s it about?

Riyam and Kafa would probably be a hot favourite to make the shortlist, had an Iraq-based book not won last year. Still, this intricate study of the lot of women in Iraq through the eyes of a seamstress has been receiving some impressive reviews.

Ashraf al-Khamaisi for Sharp Turning (Egypt)

Who is he?

Longlisted for the second year running, the award-winning al-Khamaisi is a magazine editor and short-story writer. Sharp Turning is his third novel.

What’s it about?

One of the more thoughtful books of the list, Sharp Turning mulls over all the Big Questions – of life, death and faith – as a group of passengers appear to be heading towards an untimely end on a speeding minibus.

Hisham al-Kashin for Graphite (Egypt)

Who is he?

Al-Kashin’s way with a compelling modern narrative has seen two of his novels adapted into a television series in Egypt recently. Not bad for a fiftysomething civil engineer.

What’s it about?

Al-Kashin takes on the historical novel this time, going back to 1920s Egypt to chart the life of Nawal as she becomes embroiled with the women’s liberation movement made famous by Doria Shafik.

Shukri al-Mabkhout for The Italian (Tunisia)

The only debut novelist – or Tunisian – on the longlist, 52-year-old al-Mabkhout comes with impeccable credentials: a doctor in literature and a critic who is on the editorial boards of a number of literary journals around the world.

What’s it about?

Not an Italian, actually. Abdel Nasser goes by that moniker, though, and the book explores why this strange, troubled man attacks an imam during a funeral procession. It’s all because of his upbringing, you see.

Ahmed al-Madeeni for Willow Alley (Morocco)

Who is he?

Al-Madeeni is certainly enjoying his moment in the sun right now – in 2014 his complete works of fiction, short stories and literary criticism were published in five volumes by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture. ­Impressive.

What’s it about?

As you'd expect from someone celebrated in Moroccan culture, Willow Alley is a forensic look at secrets and lives in a typically thriving town in the country – and asks why the less-fortunate are still trampled on by the powerful.

Habib Abdulrab Sarori for The Daughter of Suslov (Yemen)

Who is he?

Born in Yemen but a resident of France since the beginning of the 1980s, Sarori is a literary figure both in Arabic and French. The Daughter of Suslov is his fifth Arabic novel – and, like fellow IPAF nominee Hisham al-Kashin, he has a scientific ­background.

What’s it about?

The Daughter of Suslov is one of those richly satisfying, generation-spanning historical epics seen through the eyes of one man, beginning in 1960s Aden and chronicling independence, unification and even the Arab Spring.

Muna al-Sheemi for The Size of a Grape (Egypt)

Who is she?

A multi-award-winning Egyptian who has ­finally got IPAF recognition for her sixth ­novel. Last year, her short story Jangling of the Bracelets won a BBC Radio prize.

What’s it about?

A mother finds out about her child’s brain tumour in hospital at the same time Hosni Mubarak arrives – and it sets her thinking about the journey of her life as a woman in a patriarchal society.

Hammour Ziada for The Longing of the Dervish (Sudan)

Who is he?

Surely guaranteed a place on the shortlist – and probably the favourite to take home the prize, the 37-year-old writer and journalist won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2014 for The Longing of the Dervish, his second novel.

What’s it about?

Another historical novel, The Longing of the Dervish tells the tale of a vengeful 19th-century slave released from prison during the British colonial war across Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda.