The Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation and the Arab World Institute present the official shortlist for 2017 Arab Literature Prize

Eight titles have been shortlisted for the award, now in its fifth year, and will be presented to the jury:

1. La Fille de Souslov

by Habib Abdulrab Sarori (published by Actes Sud) 2. Seul le grenadier by Sinan Antoon (Actes Sud) 3. Mourir est un enchantement by Yasmine Chami (Actes Sud) 4. Un oiseau bleu et rare vole avec moi by Youssef Fadel (Actes Sud) 5. Cinquante grammes de paradis by Imane Humaydan (published by Verticales) 6.  Pas de couteaux dans les cuisines de cette ville by Khaled Khalifa (Actes Sud) 7. Une femme sans écriture by Saber Mansouri (published by Seuil) 8. L’effacement by Samir Toumi (published by Barzakh)

This literary prize of €10,000 – the only French prize spotlighting new Arabic literature – is awarded to an author (from an Arab League country) of a work written in (or translated imto) French and published between 31 May 2016 and 31 May 2017.

The jury will meet in the autumn under the chairmanship of Pierre Leroy, co-managing partner of Lagardère SCA, to deliberate and designate the winner of this year’s Arab Literature Prize. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held on 18 October at the Arab World Institute, in the presence of its president, Jack Lang.

Previous awards

Since the prize was created by the Arab World Institute and the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, the Arab Literature Prize was awarded: in 2016, to an Iraqi, Inaam Kachachi, for her novel Dispersés (published by Gallimard); in 2015, to a Saudi Arabian, Mohammed Hasan Alwan, for his novel Le Castor  (published by Seuil); in 2014, to an Egyptian, Mohamed al-Fakharany, for his novel La Traversée du K.-O. (Seuil); and in 2013, to a Lebanese writer, Jabbour Douaihy, for his novel Saint Georges regardait ailleurs (Actes Sud).