The Workshop of the Arabic Narrative House at the Culture and Arts Association in Saudi Arabia’s Dammam has announced the nomination of Saudi novelist Aziz Mohammed’s ‘The Critical Case of ‘K’ for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2018.
The novel, published by Dar Al Tanweer, was shortlisted in a symbolic initiative that the workshop used to host a selection of writers and experts to discuss the nominated novels and pick a winner for the Arabic Booker.
Although the result does not affect the final decision by the official jury of the Arabic Booker, it plays an important role in the promotion of the winning novel and shedding more light on it. The winning novel will be announced at the opening ceremony of the Abu Dhabi international Book Fair on April 25, 2018.
The arbitration session was moderated by Dr. Mubarak Al Khalidi, supervisor of the Narrative House, featuring narrator and novelist Mariam Al Hassan, writer Asmaa Bu Khamseen, critic and playwriter Abdul Aziz Ismael, poets Abdul Wahab Al Faris and Faiza Howeidi, writer Mohammed Al Rawi, and Egyptian narrator Adel Jad.
The first round of arbitration ended with ‘The Critical Case of ‘K’ and Palestinian novelist Walid Shorafa’s ‘Heir of the Tombstones’ earning equal result of 47 points, followed by Iraqi author Shahad Al Rawi’s Baghdad Clock’, which won 40 points.
The second round of the session announced ‘The Critical Case of ‘K’ as winner of the Arabic Booker.
