Danshmand by Ahmed Fal Al Din, The Valley of the Butterflies by Azher Jirjees, The Andalusian Messiah by Taissier Khalaf, The Prayer of Anxiety by Mohamed Samir Nada, The Touch of Light by Nadia Najar, and The Women’s Charter by Haneen Al-Sayegh have been announced as the six shortlisted works for the 18th International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). The winner will be announced on Thursday 24 April 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
The list for IPAF’s 18th edition ranges from 38 to 58 and represents six countries: Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Mauritania, Syria, and UAE. Collectively the authors explore a diverse range of themes through distinct narrative styles and approaches to storytelling.
Four of the shortlisted authors – Ahmed Fal Al Din, Mohamed Samir Nada, Nadia Najar, and Haneen Al-Sayegh – are being recognised for the first time. Azher Jirjees was shortlisted for the Prize in 2023 with The Stone of Happiness after being longlisted in 2020; and Taissier Khalaf was longlisted in 2017 with The Slaughter of the Philosophers. Ahmed Fal Al Din is the first Mauritanian author to be shortlisted in the Prize’s history.
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is awarded for novels in Arabic and each of the six shortlisted finalists receives $10,000, with a further $50,000 going to the winner. It is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
