They've announced that The Italian [الطلياني] by Shukri Mabkhout [شكرى المبخوت] wins 2015 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
This leading Arabic fiction prize comes with US$50,000 prize money, and Mabkhout is: "guaranteed an English translation of his novel". There were 180 entries for the prize.
As M. Lynx Qualey notes in her report in The Guardian, the novel has been banned from bookshops across the Emirates (though it will be available at the Abu Dhabi International Book, which opens today). Mixed messages here -- awards, yes, but let people actually/easily read the book: not so much.
This leading Arabic fiction prize comes with US$50,000 prize money, and Mabkhout is: "guaranteed an English translation of his novel". There were 180 entries for the prize.
As M. Lynx Qualey notes in her report in The Guardian, the novel has been banned from bookshops across the Emirates (though it will be available at the Abu Dhabi International Book, which opens today). Mixed messages here -- awards, yes, but let people actually/easily read the book: not so much.