The International Prize for
Arabic Fiction (IPAF), the prestigious prize for the Arabic novel, is to be
sponsored by the newly created Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) from 2013, marking
the Prize’s sixth cycle. The Prize fits in well with the cultural focus of TCA
Abu Dhabi, which is also responsible for the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
and the Louvre and Guggenheim developments.
With its ongoing association
with the Booker Prize Foundation, IPAF will maintain its unwavering commitment to
independence, transparency and integrity.
The change in funding comes at
the end of the fifth year of the Prize which, since its inception in 2007, has
grown from strength to strength with the support of the Emirates Foundation for
Philanthropy. Following a new direction from its board, the Foundation was
re-launched earlier this year as the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development,
with a strategy that moves away from grant making to social investment in
sustainable long term programmes which improve the lives of young people in the
UAE positively and permanently.
HE Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon
Al Nahyan, Managing Director of the Emirates Foundation and Chairman of the Abu
Tourism and Culture Authority, comments: ‘Since its launch in 2007, the Prize
has grown steadily building a reputation of transparency and independence not
only regionally but also worldwide. It is with pride that Abu Dhabi will remain
the main hub of the Prize. The new sponsorship will not affect the Prize’s
administration which shall remain the same. We see IPAF as an important Prize
that has enriched global readers with the best in Arabic literature translated
into different languages and we are committed to continue supporting this
successful initiative.’
Jonathan Taylor, Chairman of
Trustees for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, adds:
‘We have been hugely grateful
to the Emirates Foundation whose steadfast support over the first five years of
the prize enabled its successful establishment. We now start a new chapter in
partnership with TCA Abu Dhabi, which will ensure the future of the Prize and
the continuation of the independence and integrity for which it is noted.’
Over five years, the Prize has
been awarded to six winners and, to date, IPAF novels have been translated into
some 20 languages. The 2008 and 2009 winners are now available in English and
publication in English has been secured for the winners in the three subsequent
years. Rights for the latest (2012) winner, Rabee Jaber, have already been sold
in several languages including Polish and Spanish.
Looking forward, submissions
for the 2013 Prize closed at the end of June and are at an all-time high, with
over 130 eligible submissions from authors from 16 countries across the Arab
World: a reflection of the Prize’s importance for the Arabic literary
community. From this year, publishers are able to submit any new title by an
author who has previously been shortlisted for the Prize, in addition to three
other novels.
The Prize also welcomes three
new trustees this autumn, to replace retiring trustees. They are: Jordanian
publisher Maher Kayyali; Lebanese-American publisher Michel Moushabeck and Emirati poet
and film-maker Nojoom Alghanem.
The longlist for the 2013
Prize will be announced in December 2012, followed by a shortlist announcement
in January 2013. As is tradition, the winner will be announced at the Abu Dhabi
International Book Fair in April 2013.
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