Six novels, shortlisted for the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), were announced yesterday at the Bahrain National Museum.
A panel of five judges picked the six titles out of a 16-book longlist, which they selected from a total of 137 submissions to the contest, nicknamed the ‘Arabic Booker Prize’.
A panel of five judges picked the six titles out of a 16-book longlist, which they selected from a total of 137 submissions to the contest, nicknamed the ‘Arabic Booker Prize’.
Each shortlistee receives $10,000 (BD3,770), with the yet-to-be announced winner to receive $50,000 (BD18,850). The grand winner will be revealed on April 9, ahead of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
Although no Bahraini novels made it to the long- or shortlists this year, IPAF board of trustees chair Dr Yasir Suleiman told the GDN that he was confident Bahraini novelists will soon be competing for future accolades.
“As you may know, the novel (as an art form) arrived late to the Arabic cultural scene, and Arab regions developed in that field at varying rates,” Dr Suleiman, Emeritus Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at Cambridge University, said.
“The Gulf area has brought formidable competitors to the prize who have reached both short and longlists. I believe that the literary and novel scene in Bahrain is moving towards a promising direction. I view Bahrain as a place that has all the elements for a bright future when it comes to fiction.”
The panel of judges featured Bahraini academic Dr Dheya Alkaabi, College of Arts dean at Bahrain University. It was chaired by Dr Mohamed Elkadhi from Tunisia and the panel’s other members were Maya Abu Al-Hayyat from Palestine, Dr Laila Hyewon Baek from South Korea and Dr Shakir Nouri from Iraq.
The shortlist:
- The Origin of Species by Ahmad Abdulatif – Egypt
- The Absence of Mai by Najwa Barakat – Lebanon
- I Resist the River’s Course by Said Khatibi – Algeria
- A Cloud Above My Head by Doaa Ibrahim – Egypt
- Siesta Dream by Amin Zaoui – Algeria
- The Seer by Diaa Jubaili – Iraq
Dr Alkaabi told the GDN she was proud to be a judge for the 2026 IPAF. She previously served on the scientific committee of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
“The experience of being on the panel of judges was extraordinary, and brought me together with elite scholars and critics from the Arab world and beyond,” she said.
“I was honoured to represent Bahrain and the GCC. The sessions, in which we discussed which novels to choose for the lists went on for hours and hours, and they were amazing to be part of.”
The only Bahraini novel to be included on an IPAF list remains The Weepers by Aqeel Al Mosawi, a novel that explores the relationship between faiths in Bahrain, and religious rituals practised by them. The Weepers, which was on the 2025 longlist, was described by Dr Suleiman as a “beautiful novel” written in “seamless language”.
“The Weepers takes the reader on an enjoyable anthropological journey in understanding Bahrain, and portrayed its diversity and harmony. Diversity doesn’t mean being different, but for different groups to be interconnected and interwoven,” he told the GDN.
Despite the labelling of countries in the prize, Dr Suleiman said that novels should not be viewed through the lens of their nationality. “Our prize is international and is not exclusive to a specific country,” he said. “What determines the identity of a novel is its language, but we are still made to categorise these works based on nationality.
“The novel has become a window for Arab readers to see the region’s diversity. In the past, the Moroccan remains in Morocco, an Algerian remains in Algeria, with few exceptions. Now, the Moroccan writer has readers in Bahrain and the Bahraini writer has readers in Morocco.”
The IPAF is funded by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre and was originally mentored by the Booker Prize Foundation in London.
According to Dr Suleiman, the IPAF is not just an honour to be presented, but a platform to promote the newest Arabic-language titles, not only for readers, but also for critics, publishers and translators.
“Foreign critics and publishers wait for these longlists and shortlists to be issued to find out the latest that the Arabic literary scene produced and to pick works that can be translated.
“People have limited time and need help to pick things to read. Instead of spending a lot of time looking for novels in a sea of creative works, the prize helps them find out which works are most deserving of attention, in the
judges’ opinion.”
judges’ opinion.”
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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