A $50,000 prize styling itself as the Arabic Booker has been awarded for the first time. At a ceremony in Abu Dhabi last night, the inaugural International Prize for Arabic Fiction went to Egyptian author Baha Taher for his novel Sunset Oasis.
The award, which aims to boost the international profile of literary fiction in Arabic, carries with it prizes of $10,000 for all shortlisted novels, and a further $50,000 for the winner. The victor is also assured of being translated into English.
Taher, 73, has published six novels and four short story collections, none of which have so far been translated into English. Sunset Oasis follows one man's journey, described by the prize's website as following "a journey that crystallises the existential crisis of a defeated man".
The book's English translation will be funded by Tetra Pak heiress Sigrid Rausing, who owns Granta and Portobello publishers. The chair of the award's board of trustees, Jonathan Taylor, who also chairs the Booker Prize Foundation, commented: "We are certain that this new prize will soon achieve the reputation and success of the Booker Prize itself - we shall hope to carry the influence of new Arabic literature all over the world, in Arabic as well as in translation."
Authors from 18 Arab countries were considered for the prize, with a total of 122 books submitted. Launched in association with the Booker Prize Foundation, the prize is funded by Abu Dhabi's Emirates Foundation.
The shortlisted books were:
Jabbour Douaihy June Rain (Lebanese)
Elias Farkouh The Land of Purgatory (Jordanian)
Khaled Khalifa In Praise of Hate (Syrian)
May Menassa Walking in the Dust (Lebanese)
Mekkaoui Said Swan Song (Egyptian)
Baha Taher Sunset Oasis (Egyptian)