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Rabat – The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) published the 2021 longlist containing16 authors. Among them are two Moroccan novelists, Abdelmeguid Sabata and Youssef Fadel.
The IPAF 2021 longlist is diverse in both the selection of countries and ages.
The novels listed cover a multitude of issues relevant to the Arab world. The newly announced longlist includes two Moroccan novels, out of 16 potential winners.
Youssef Fadel is a 72-year old award-winning Moroccan author, with a career spanning over five decades. Having written many novels and plays with strong political themes, Fadel’s work is considered a major contribution to the Moroccan literary scene.
Fadel is listed for his novel The life of Butterflies, in which he explores fictitious accounts set in the midst of a major Moroccan historical event, the failed 1972 coup attempt.
Having lived through the years in question, the subject matter is a consistent theme in his previous work.
Abdelmeguid Sabata is one of the youngest writers on the list at 32 years old. He is a celebrated author, having won the Moroccan Book Award in 2018 for his novel The Zero Hour.
Sabata is listed for his novel File 42, a crime-thriller novel that alternates between two parallel storylines, merging American and Moroccan characters within its plot.
The UAE’s Department of Culture and Tourism is financing the IPAF, which will award a $10,000 to the shortlisted authors and a $50,000 award for the winner.
In 2020, Moroccan authors were also nominated for the IPAF longlist.
Hassan Aourid, a politician, writer, and professor of political science at Mohammed V University, was on the longlist for his novel Al-Mutanabbi’s Rabat. A brilliant piece of fiction that dissects the modern ailments of the Arab world by reimagining Al-Mutanabbi in a modern day post Arab Spring Rabat.
2020’s winner was Abdelouhab Aissaoui, an Algerian writer, for his novel The Spartan Court.
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction, delivered by the Booker prize foundation, is the most prestigious accolade in the Arab literary world.
