Africa Top Success Ils font l'Afrique
It is one of the most prestigious literary rewards of the Arab world.
Henceforth, the six finalists of Arab Booker Prize are listed. And the prize-winner will be known on next April 29th during the opening of the fair of Abu Dhabi.
Their authors will receive each 10 000 dollars (approximately 7 300 euros) as well as the possibility of publishing their works and translated for the circumstances into English for an international public. The prize-winner will receive 60 000 dollars.
The odds-on favorites of this short list are the two Moroccans, Youssef Fadel are and Abdelrahim Lahbibi, both appeared on this list. The first is the author of « A Rare Blue Bird that Flies with Me, a fiction in a dark Moroccan reality. A young woman, Zina is in search of her husband, Aziz, a pilot, missing eighteen years ago. In “The Journeys of Abdi, known as Son of Hamriya”, the hero of Abdelrahim Lahbibi discovers a manuscript written in the style of Ibn Khaldoun.
Also competing, “The Blue Elephant” of the Egyptian Ahmed Mourad, known for his short films rewarded in Europe (« The Wanderers », « Three Papers » and “On the Seventh Day”). His work explores the personality of a psychiatrist.
List of selected movies:
– A Rare Blue Bird that Flies with Me, of the Marocan Youssef Fadel (Dar al-Adab)
– Tashari, of the Iraqi Inaam Kachachi (Dar al-Jadid);
– No Knives in this City’s Kitchens, of the Syrian Khaled Khalifa (Dar al-Ain);
– The Journeys of Abdi, known as Son of Hamriya, of the Marocan Abdelrahim Lhabibi (Eastern Africa);
– The Blue Elephant, of the Egyptian Ahmed Mourad (Dar al-Shorouq);
– Frankenstein in Baghdad, of the Iraqi Ahmed Saadawi (Al-Jamal).
