SOURCE: WAFA. P.S

RAMALLAH, February 22, 2018 (WAFA) – Since the inception of the International Arabic Prize for Fiction in 2007, the Palestinian pen and literature continue to flourish and compete year after year to prove their added value.

The Palestinian novel has managed to make it to the shortlist every year except the year 2011. While novels written by Palestinian authors were shortlisted each year, only in 2016 a Palestinian novel claimed the prize; “Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba” by Rabai al-Madhoun.

This year in the eleventh edition of the prize, a Palestinian dominance is observed and praised. Four novels written by Palestinian authors were included in the longlist and the shortlist making it the best year for Palestinian literature. The works are “The Second War of the Dog” by Ibrahim Nasrallah, “Heir of the Tombstones” by Walid Shurafa, “Christina” by Atef Abu Saif and “Ali, the Story of an Honourable Man” by Hussein Yassin.

The four novels were selected from a pool of 124 Arabic novels written by authors from 14 different Arab countries.

The full 2018 shortlist was announced on Wednesday 21 February and the names were revealed at a press conference held at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, in Amman, Jordan, by a judging panel chaired by Jordanian academic, translator, novelist and poet Ibrahim Al Saafin.

Walid Shurafa, a Birzeit University media and cultural studies lecturer said “I always place my bid on the creativity of the Palestinian novel which tells the Palestinian tale.”

He began writing his novel in 2013 after a prolonged process of imagining and reconnecting with memories from his past.

“Inspiration is linked to the Palestinian people’s tragedy and the calamities I have personally endured. Literature is not an information statement, and my conviction has always been that personal experience, shock and the ability to judge reality and history are subject to human sensitivity and a particular type of intimacy.”

The works by Palestinian authors, which were selected to compete for the prize, were:

2009: “Time of White Horses” by Ibrahim Nasrallah (shortlist) and “Ma’ Al Sama’” by Yahya Yakhlif (longlist).

2010: “The Lady from Tel Aviv” by Rabai al-Madhoun (shortlist), “When the Wolves Grow Old” by Jamal Naji (longlist), “Who Will Cheer up the Lady?” by Mahmoud al-Rimawy (longlist) and “Origin and Branch” by Sahar Khalifeh (longlist).

2012: “The Amazing Journey of Khair al-Din ibn Zard” by Ibrahim al-Zaaru (longlist).

2013: “Jaffa Prepares Morning Coffee” by Anwar Hamed (longlist) and “The Lanterns of the King of Galilee” by Ibrahim Nasrallah (longlist).

2014: “The Edge of the Abyss” by Ibrahim Nasrallah (longlist).

2015: “A Suspended Life” by Atef Abu Saif (shortlist).

2016: “Hymns of Temptation” by Laila al-Atrash (longlist) and “Praise for the Women of the Family” by Mahmoud Shukair (shortlist).

2017: “The Slaughter of the Philosophers” by Taissier Khalaf (longlist).

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world.

Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing and to encourage the readership of high quality Arabic literature internationally through the translation and publication of winning and shortlisted novels in other major languages.