Rules of Entry

Submissions for the 2024 Prize open on 1 April 2023 and close on 30 June 2023

Download a copy of the Submission form in Arabic.

• IPAF is dedicated to the literary novel. Books of short stories or collections of poetry are not eligible.

• Electronic books are not eligible.

• Authors cannot submit their own work: submissions are to be made by eligible publishers but this must be done in consultation with the authors.

• An eligible publisher is one who has been in business at least 2 years and who is an active publisher with a catalogue or list of its fiction titles demonstrating its activity and which is publicly available.

•The number of novels an eligible publisher can submit will depend on that publisher’s inclusion in longlists from 2019 to 2023, as follows:

1 submission – publishers with no longlisting.

2 submissions – publishers with 1 or 2 longlisting(s).

3 submissions – publishers with 3 or 4 longlistings.

4 submissions – publishers with 5 or more longlistings.

The longlists for 2019 to 2023 are set out below.

• Self-published novels or novels which have been published via a commercial arrangement through which the publisher is paid by the author are not eligible. If the publisher is a company then if the novel is by the person who owns the majority shareholding or otherwise controls the company it is not eligible.

• The novel must be published between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.

• The novel must be written in Arabic: Arabic translations of a book originally written in any other language are not eligible.

• Authors must be living at the time of the award.

• Only one novel is accepted per author, and manuscripts are not eligible.

• Every novel submitted must have an ISBN number.

• A novel which has first been published in entirety in instalments (in print or online) before July 2022 is not eligible. This prohibition applies to any type of publishing or publication.

• The novel must respect publishing rights and copyrights of the Arab country where it has been published and any novel which is published without the permission of the original author and/or publisher is not eligible.

• The publisher must submit seven copies of each novel, along with the application form, to the Administrator: Fleur Montanaro, IPAF, 11a Harbut Road, London SW11 2RA, UK.

• If a publisher submits a novel by an author who has previously been shortlisted for the Prize, this work will not be counted in the publisher’s submissions quota, that is, it is accepted automatically and in addition to the works which the publisher is otherwise allowed to submit.

• The Administrator of the Prize is unable to return any books entered by publishers.

• The decisions of the Judges at all stages of each prize cycle (longlist, shortlist and winner) are final and cannot be subject to objection.

• All submissions are made on a confidential basis.

• If a submitted novel is longlisted, the publisher must send ten further copies of the novel to the Administrator immediately after the longlist announcement.

• By allowing publishers to submit their novels, authors are deemed to agree that if they are shortlisted, they will be available for promotional activities such as tours and media appearances related to the Prize, both in the Arab world and abroad.

• IPAF reserves the right to reject any novel that does not comply with the conditions set out above and its decision is final; it may impose other sanctions as it sees fit.

 

International Prize for Arabic Fiction Longlists from 2019 to 2023
*Shortlisted novels are marked with an asterisk

2023

The Ages of Daniel in the City of Threads by Ahmad Abdulatif

The Highest Part of the Horizon by Fatima Abdulhamid*

Drought by Siddik Hadj-Ahmed*

The Exile of the Water Diviner by Zahran Alqasmi*

Concerto Qurina Eduardo by Najwa Binshatwan*

Ruler of the Two Fortresses by Lina Huyan Elhassan

Bar Lialina by Ahmed El-Fakharani

The Melody of the Rabbit by Mohammed Harradi

My Name Is Zayzafoune by Sausan Jamil Hasan

The Box of Sand by Aisha Ibrahim

The Antikkhana by Nasser Iraq

The Stone of Happiness by Azher Jirjees*

The Family House by Rabia Raihane

Days of the Shining Sun by Miral al-Tahawy*

One Night Is Enough by Qassem Tawfik

They All Say I Love You by May Telmissany

2022

In Search of Azar by Nizar Aghri

The Alley of the Italians by Boumediene Belkebir

The White Minaret by Yaa’rab al-Eissa

Mother of Mimi by Belal Fadl

Farah’s Story by Ezzedine Choukri Fishere

Cairo Maquette by Tarek Imam*

The Abyssinian Rimbaud by Haji Jabir

Rose’s Diary by Reem al-Kamali*

Dilshad by Bushra Khalfan*

The Prisoner of the Portuguese by Mohsine Loukili*

The White Line of Night by Khaled Nasrallah*

Bread on the Table of Uncle Milad by Mohammed Alnaas*

The Hungarian by Rouchdi Redouane

The Maids of the Shrine by Mona al-Shammari

Where Is My Name? by Dima al-Shukr

The Whisper of the Scorpion by Mohamed Tawfik

2021

The Eye of Hammurabi by Abdulatif Ould Abdullah*         

M for Murderer: S for Sa’id by Abdullah Albsais   

Hole to Heaven by Abdulla Al-Eyaf           

Notebooks of the Bookshop Keeper by Jalal Bargas*          

Boxes of Desire by Abbas Baydoun           

The Orchards of Basra by Mansoura Ez Eldin        

The Life of Butterflies by Youssef Fadel    

The Calamity of the Nobility by Amira Ghenim*   

The Night Bird by Amara Lakhous*

The Bird Tattoo by Dunya Mikhail            

J by Sara al-Nams            

Two Green Eyes by Hamed al-Nazir          

Daughter of the Tigris by Muhsin Al-Ramli            

File 42 by Abdelmeguid Sabata* 

Longing for the Woman Next Door by Habib Selmi*          

Fruit for the Crows by Ahmed Zein           

 

2020

The Last Days of the Pasha by Rasha Adly

The Spartan Court by Abdelouahab Aissaoui*

Seferberlik by Magbool Al-Alawi

The Russian Quarter by Khalil Alrez*

Al-Mutanabbi’s Rabat by Hassan Aourid

What About Rachel, the Jewish Lady? by Salim Barakat

The King of India by Jabbour Douaihy*

The War of the Gazelle by Aisha Ibrahim

Sleeping in the Cherry Field by Azhar Jerjis

The Stairs of Trolar by Samir Kacimi

No-one Prayed Over Their Graves by Khaled Khalifa

Firewood of Sarajevo by Said Khatibi*

The Tank by Alia Mamdouh*

The Mingling of the Seasons by Bachir Mefti

Hammam Dhahab by Mohammed Eissa al-Mu'adab

Fardequan – the Detention of the Great Sheikh by Youssef Ziedan*

 

2019

Women without Trace by Mohammed Abi Samra

Voyage of the Cranes in the Cities of Agate by Omaima Abullah Al-Khamis

The Night Mail by Hoda Barakat*

Women of the Five Senses by Jalal Bargas

The Commandments by Adel Esmat*

Mohammed's Brothers by Maysalun Hadi

Black Foam by Haji Jaber

The Outcast by Inaam Kachachi*

May- The Nights of Isis Copia by Waciny Laredj

What Sin Caused her to Die? by Mohammed Al-Maazuz*

I Killed My Mother in Order to Live by May Menassa

Western Mediterranean by Mbarek Rabi

Me and Haim by Habib Sayah

Summer with the Enemy by Shahla Ujayli*

The Mexican Wife by Iman Yehia

Cold White Sun by Kafa Al-Zou'bi*