The Moroccan Book Prize is back in 2019, welcoming the participation of both rising young writers and established authors.
Rabat – The Ministry of Culture and Communication announced on Thursday that the 2019 Moroccan Book Prize application process is open to Moroccan playwrights, fiction writers, poets, and even translators.
The literary contest is open to writers from various genres and languages.
It includes works related to human sciences, social sciences, linguistics, translation, and literature works like storytelling, short stories, poetry, plays in Arabic, Tamazight (Berber language), French, English and any other language.
The competition also aims to encourage Amazigh (Berber) literature.
The application process, however, is only open to candidates who have not received any awards from the competition in the past three years and those who did not receive national or international book awards in 2018, said the ministry.
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Established Moroccan authors, critics, poets, translators, and researchers wishing to participate must submit their applications accompanied by eight samples of their works published in the country or abroad in 2018.
The deadline for the applications is April 19.
The ministry will announce the winners on September 20, 2019, and the award ceremony will be on October 18, 2019.
In 2018, 13 writers and researchers out of the 122 participants won awards in the various categories.
Created in 1999, the Moroccan Book Prize strives to support Moroccan writers and academics and promote local works of literature. The prize grants certificates, trophies, and a sum of MAD 70,000 to winners.
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