Ben East

Otared deservedly earned Rabie a spot on the International Prize for Arabic Fiction shortlist last year, which means the 38-year-old Egyptian will be one of the major draws at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

So where are the 11 winners (2011’s prize was shared) now and has an Ipaf win increased their international profile?

Inspired by a horrific personal loss, Muhsin Al-Ramli’s novel The President’s Garden offers an incredible insight into Iraqi life. On the eve of its English translation, the author tells us the heartbreaking story behind its creation.

Spoils feels more like an exercise in show and tell than a story with ­something deeper to explore.

Jon McGregor’s new novel, Reservoir 13, brilliantly evokes day-to-day life in a close-knit community shocked by the disappearance of a teenager. He tells us why the characters are more important than the underlying mystery.

Plus: More book awards with announcement of Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist and Omani-Emirati Sharifa AlBadi has been finding success with her short illustrated fantasy book.

Although the protagonist’s journey is painful, this is a quietly hopeful novel, which in its strangeness exerts a hypnotic pull on the imagination.

The book works as a brave, honest chronicle of a quietly unlikeable man whose unfaithfulness and other gentle vices have left him open to scorn.

Author Omar El Akkad talks to us about his debut novel in which the US is gripped by civil war while the Middle East is at peace

For cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, music is a bridge into the narrative of people's lives and to shared understanding.

Plus:streaming operation Storytel is to launch in the UAE and focus on original local content.

Nigerian writer Ayobami Adebayo, whose debut novel Stay With Me has been the talk of the publishing world, tells us how her story of a childless couple was 10 years in the making

Whether Compass acts as a fully functioning novel is less clear – there is a lot of scholarly context and essaying before we get to more traditional storytelling.

The West Indian poet and Nobel laureate passed away on Friday.