Rules of Entry

Submissions for the 2025 Prize opened in April 2024 and close on 30 June 2024

Download a copy of the Submission form in Arabic.

• IPAF is dedicated to the literary novel. Collections of short stories or poetry are not eligible, and determination as to whether any work submitted constitutes a novel is at the absolute discretion of IPAF

• 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 of fiction (other than children’s books) with a catalogue or list of its fiction titles demonstrating its activity. This catalogue or list must be freely available and readily accessible to the public.

•The number of novels an eligible publisher can submit will depend on that publisher’s inclusion in longlists from 2020 to 2024, 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 2020 to 2024 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; if the publisher is not a company, then if the novel is by a person who controls the publishing business or undertaking (whether alone or jointly with others), it is not eligible.

• The novel must be published (and this must be its first publication by any publisher) between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.

• 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 its entirety in instalments (in print or online) before 1st July 2023 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 twelve further copies of the novel to the Administrator immediately after the longlist announcement. Failure to do so will mean that the novel will not be considered further by the judges.

• 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 (and at any stage of the prize cycle) that does not comply with the conditions set out above and its decision is final; it may impose other sanctions as it sees fit. By submitting their novels, authors and their publishers are deemed to agree that, for the purposes of determining eligibility, IPAF may call for relevant documents even if they would otherwise be confidential as between author and publisher.

 

 

International Prize for Arabic Fiction Longlists from 2020 to 2024 *Shortlisted novels are marked with an asterisk

2024

Nearly Every Day by Mohamed Abdel Nabi

Foumbi by Badriya Albadri

Bahbel: Makkah Multiverse 1945-2009 by Raja Alem*

I Heard Everything by Sara Alsarraf

Suleima’s Ring by Rima Bali*

The Other Face of the Shadow by Rashid al-Daif

The Seventh Heaven of Jerusalem by Osama al-Eissa*

I Hide Passion by Dora al-Fazi’

Eye of the Kite by Saleh al-Hamad

A Mask, the Colour of the Sky by Basim Khandaqji*

Storm Over the Islands by Ahmed Mennour

Gambling on the Honour of Lady Mitzi by Ahmed al-Morsi*

The Mosaicist by Eissa Nasiri*

Spice Circle by Salha Obeid

Reader of the Tanners’ Alley by Sufyan Rajab

The Idols by Amin Zaoui

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*