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International Prize for Arabic Fiction

こくさいあらぶしょうせつしょう

International literary award given to long novels published in Arabic. Commonly known as the "Arabic Booker".

FictionArabic literatureInternational literary award
Established
2008
Organizer
Booker Prize Foundation (London) / Funded by: Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism (DCT)
Category
General Fiction and Popular Fiction
Selection Method
Recommendation
Target
Professional
Frequency
1 per year
Application Deadline
around June
Announcement Period
around April
Status
Active

Description

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) recognizes outstanding long novels published in Arabic and aims to expand the international readership of Arabic literature through the translation and publication of winning and nominated works. It is operated by the Booker Prize Foundation (London) and funded by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism. Established in 2008, winners receive prize money, and it also supports related initiatives such as the IPAF Nadwa (writers' workshop).

Prize

Main Prize
The winner receives prize money and support for translation, publication, etc. The winner receives US$50,000, and each of the 6 shortlisted receives US$10,000.
Cash Prize
50,000 USD
  • Shortlist prize money: US$10,000 (each of 6)
  • Support for translation, publication, and promotion of winning and nominated works
  • Writer support programs by IPAF (e.g., Nadwa workshop)

Selection

Selection Process

Longlist
Judges International judging panel appointed annually (literary figures, critics, translators, etc.; members change every year)
Pass Rate Approx. 10-15% (e.g., longlist of 16 out of 100-130 submissions)
Announcement Usually announced from late previous year to early new year (Nov-Jan)
Shortlist
Judges Selected by the same judging panel
Pass Rate Approx. 4-6% (e.g., shortlist of 6 out of total submissions)
Announcement Mainly announced around Jan-Feb
Winner
Judges Decided by final vote or consensus of the judging panel
Pass Rate Around 1% (e.g., 1 out of total submissions)
Announcement Mainly announced March-May (some years around Abu Dhabi International Book Fair)

Criteria

  • Literary excellence (quality of style and expression)
  • Structure, narrative quality, and originality
  • Universality of themes and cultural importance
  • Depth of characters and story completeness
  • Appeal to international readers (translatability)
  • Publication status and editing quality

Application Tips

Dos

  • 応募規程(Rules of Entry)を公式サイトで必ず確認する
  • 出版社を通じて正式に応募する(出版社の推薦が必要な場合が多い)
  • 提出前に原稿の校正・編集を徹底して作品の完成度を高める
  • 出版情報やライツ情報を正確に添付する
  • 締切日・発表時期を事前に確認し余裕を持って準備する

Don''ts

  • 締切を過ぎての提出や不完全な書類での応募を行わない
  • 応募規約に反する形式(例:適格でない出版形態)での提出をしない
  • 作品の権利関係や著作権表示を曖昧にしたまま提出しない

From Judges

  • 文学的な独創性と文体の質を重視すること(斬新な視点・語りが評価される)
  • 登場人物の深みと物語の一貫性を大切にすること
  • 翻訳や国際的読者を念頭に置いた読みやすさ・表現の明確さも有利になる
  • 応募前に必ず刊行物としての完成度(校正・版面・メタデータ)を整える

Related Awards

  • Booker Prize (related to Booker Prize Foundation)
  • Sheikh Zayed Book Award
  • Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
  • International Prize for Arabic Fiction Nadwa (IPAF Nadwa: writers' workshop)

Official Resources

http://www.arabicfiction.org/

Past Winners

Basem Khandakji ばせむ・はんだくじ Winner

The novel follows Nur, an archaeologist living in a refugee camp in Ramallah, who begins living under a borrowed identity after finding an Israeli ID card. It sharply traces the overlap between occupation and inner life, while exploring history, memory, and the instability of belonging.

A borrowed identity opens a path between a buried past and an occupied present.

240 pages
identityoccupationPalestinearchaeologymemoryresistance
Zahran Alqasmi ざふらん・あるかすみ Winner
水占い師

Set in an Omani village, the novel follows a man charged with finding underground water. It quietly explores how scarcity, legend, fear, and respect shape daily life and bind a community to its landscape.

The search for water reveals the village's memory and the history embedded in the land.

228 pages
waterOmancommunitynaturelegendsurvival

オマーンの作家。詩的で文化的な題材を扱う作品で知られ、2023年に『水占い師(The Water Diviner)』で国際賞を受賞した。

Mohamed Alnaas もはめど・あるなーあす Winner

The novel follows Milad in a small Libyan community, where he struggles to fit the model of masculinity expected of him. Through bread making and domestic life, it brings into focus the pressure of gender roles and the struggle for personal freedom.

Amid the smell of fresh bread, old rules about masculinity begin to crack.

351 pages
gendermasculinityLibyafamilybakingsocial norms
Jalal Barjas じゃらる・ばるじゃす Winner

A bookseller, Ibrahim, takes refuge with homeless people and begins living as the heroes of the novels he has read.

324 pages
Jordanlonelinesshomelessnessbooksmental illness
Abdelouahab Aissaoui あぶでるわはーぶ・あいさうぃ Winner

A historical novel following five interconnected figures in Algiers from 1815 to 1833, as Ottoman rule gives way to the French colonial campaign.

384 pages
Algeriahistorycolonialismpoliticsresistance
Hoda Barakat ほーだ・ばらかと Winner

A novel of war, displacement, and loss in which letters and journeys create a quiet, persistent tension.

A novel of war, displacement, and loss in which letters and journeys create a quiet, persistent tension.

wardisplacementlettersloss
Ibrahim Nasrallah いぶらひーむ・なすらっらー Winner

A dystopian novel set in an unnamed near future, where power and technology distort faces, identity, and moral judgment. With allegorical force and dark humor, it follows a society that has eliminated the other and begins turning its violence against those who look like itself.

After a society has erased the other, it begins to turn against people who bear its own face.

346 pages
dystopiapower and violenceidentitysatire
Mohammed Hasan Alwan もはめど はさん あるわん Winner

個人の喪失と内面の変容を繊細に描き出す長編。日常の細部と心理的動揺を通じて生と死、孤独と回復の過程を追い、詩的で沈静な語り口で登場人物の存在感を浮かび上がらせる作品である。

個人の喪失と内面の変容を繊細に描き出す長編。

喪失心理生と死回復
Rabai al-Madhoun らばい ある まどぅーん Winner

A novel that juxtaposes the Holocaust and the Nakba to ask about memory, trauma, and the possibility of reconciliation. It moves across multiple perspectives and revisits history from within.

It places two tragedies in dialogue to rethink memory and reconciliation.

257 pages
historymemoryHolocaustNakbareconciliation
Shukri Mabkhout しゅくり まぶふーと Winner

A novel set against modern Tunisian history, where family history and national history intersect. Personal memory and political events intertwine to portray a nation's wounds through repression and upheaval.

A Tunisian novel where family history and national history overlap.

357 pages
historypoliticsmemoryfamily
Ahmed Saadawi あーめど さあだうぃ Winner
Saud Alsanousi さうど あるさぬーし Winner
377 pages
Rabee Jaber らびー じゃべーる Winner
Mohammed Achaari もはめど あちゃーり Winner
320 pages
Raja'a Alem らじゃあ あれむ Winner
544 pages
Abdo Khal あぶど かる Winner
Youssef Ziedan ゆーすふ じーだん Winner

A historical novel set in the early Christian world, following a Coptic monk as he moves from Upper Egypt to Alexandria and Syria while faith, power, and doubt collide.

A historical novel set in the early Christian world, following a Coptic monk as he moves from Upper Egypt to Alexandria and Syria while faith, power, and doubt collide.

320 pages
historical fictionreligionfaithdoubt
Bahaa Taher ばはー たーひる Winner

A lyrical novel set around an oasis in the desert, where tradition, modernity, and family ties collide. It follows how social change and historical pressure reshape individual lives.

A desert novel about the meeting of tradition and modernity.

320 pages
historysocial changememoryfamily