Several Moroccan novels have made it to the shortlist for the 10th Katara Prize for Arabic Novel, the Katara Cultural Village Foundation announced on Monday in a press release.
The shortlist includes 36 works across “Published Novels,” “Unpublished Novels,” “Youth Novels,” “Literary Criticism,” and “Historical Novels” categories.
In the “Unpublished Novels” category, Morocco is represented by Abdelghani Haddadi’s “A Mirror That Does Not Reflect Its Shadow,” Chaimae Rawam’s “Through the Wounds,” and Yassine Kenni’s “Absurdity.” Other countries listed in this category are Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Libya, and Mauritania, each with one novel.
For “Youth Novels,” Moroccan author Houria Al Dhal’s “Asylum in the Gray Planet” is on the list. Egypt contributes three entries, while Kuwait, the UAE, Algeria, Jordan, and Syria each have one.
The “Literary Criticism” category features works from seven countries, with Morocco leading with Bouchaib Saouri’s “Imagining Identity in Arabic Novels,” Hassan Touil’s “Rhetorical Interpretation of the Novel: Issues and Applications,” and Zouhair Soukah’s “Arabic Novel and Collective Memory.” Other contributors include Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Iraq, Algeria, and Tunisia, each with one study.
In the “Historical Novels” category, Morocco is represented by Salah Eddine Aqarqar’s “The Sultan’s Page” and Mohamed Mbarki’s “The Remains in the Hospitality of the Brothers.” Egypt leads with four works, followed by Iraq with two, and Jordan with one.
The “Published Novels” category is dominated by Egyptian authors with four entries, with Saudi Arabia, Oman, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon each contributing one novel.
Katara Prize received 1,697 submissions for the 2024 prize, including 886 unpublished novels, 437 published in 2023, 177 unpublished youth novels, 91 unpublished studies, seven Qatari-published novels, and 99 unpublished historical novels