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*