The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is an Arabic literary prize based in Qatar. It was established in 2014 by the Doha-based Katara Cultural Village. The total prize pool is $650,000 and the main prize $200,000, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. One of its sponsors is UNESCO. The winning novels will be translated into five languages - including French and English.
The prize was originally split into two major categories: published and unpublished novels each of which had five winners. More recently, prizes were added for research/literary critique and for young adult unpublished novels. For the published novels, the five winners originally received $60,000 while five winners in the unpublished category were each awarded $30,000. Among the winners in each category, one was chosen as the "drama" winner in which the winning works are guaranteed film adaptations. The drama winner in the published category received an additional $200,000.
In addition to the original award for Arabic novels, separate awards have been given for Arabic short stories and poetry.
Winners - winner of the drama prize
2015 Sources: Published Amir Tag El Sir, 366 (Sudan) Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid, Adagio (Egypt) Muneera Sawar, Ongoing (Bahrain) Nasira Al Sadoun, Escaping the Vortex (Iraq) Waciny Laredj, Butterfly Kingdom (Algeria)
Unpublished Jalal Barjas (Jordan) Abdul Jaleel Al Tuhami (Morocco) Maisaloon Hadi (Iraq) Zakaria Abu Maria (Morocco) Samih Al Ghabbas (Egypt)
2016 Salmi Nasser, Blue Tongues () Ali Al Refaei, Mero Family Genes () Mustapha El Hamdaoui, Princess Shadow () Saad Mohammed Raheem, Shadows of a Body () Nasser Iraq, Al-Azbakia ()
2017 Prize for Published Novel - $60,000 each
Said Khatibi, Forty Years Awaiting Isabel Sameha Kheres, Fostoq Abeed Shaker Noori, Khatoon Baghdad Hoshank Osi, The Plight of the Questions and the Lust of Imagination Mohamed Barada, Mawt Mokhtalif
Prize for Unpublished Novel - $30,000 each
Husein Al-Sakaf, False Face Statue Taha Mohamed Taha, The Apple Tree Abdelwahab Eisawi, Safar Amal Al-Manseyen Mohamed Al-Meer Ghalib, Shahd Al-Maqaber Mona Al-Shimi, Watan Al-Jeeb Al-Khalfi
Research-Literary Criticism - $10,000 each
Dr. Al-Basheer Dayfallah Dr. Khalid Ali Al-Yas Dr. Abdelhamid Al-Hossami Dr. Mostafa Al-Nahal Dr. Youssef Youssef
Prize for Young Adult Unpublished Novels - $10,000 each
Ahmad Shehata, Jabal Al-Khorafat Ghamar Mahmoud, Babel's Mirror Kauther Al-Gondi, Seren's Notebook Moneera Al-Darwai, It is not a Condition to be a Superhero to Succeed Nasr Sami, Al-Taer Al-Bashari
2018 Prize for a published novel - $60,000 each
Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed, Barry Ansouda Sudan Omar Ahmed Fadlallah, Breaths Thawrah Hawamidah, A Paradise That Did Not Drop Its Apple Qassim Mohammed Tawfiq, The Little Bird Bled Najat Abdul Samad, No Water to quench their Thirst
Prize for an unpublished novel- $30.000 each
Haya Saleh, Another Color of the Sunset Abdulkareem Al Obaidi, The American Beard Hassan Baeti, Temporary Faces Thaera Akrabawi, Hajar Zakaria Abdel-Gawad, Neigh Astray
2019 Prize for a published novel - $60,000 each
Laila Al-Atrash, Not Like Herself Majdi Daibes, The burden of guilt Habib Sayah, Haim & I Haji Jaber, Black Foam Habib Abdulrab Sarori, Revelation
Prize for an unpublished novel - $30.000 each
Warid Bader Al-salim, The Kidnapped Salemi Nasser, A Cup of Coffee and a Croissant Abdelmomen Ahmed AbdelAal, At The Gates of El-Mahrousa Wafa Alloush, Haystack Aicha Ammor, A life in black and white
2020 Prize for a published novel - $60,000 each
Ibrahim Nasrallah, A Tank Under the Christmas Tree Mohamed Makhzangi, The reservist Fatin al-Murr, Dust 1918 Cheikh Elbane, Wood Valley Fathia Debech, Melanin
Prize for an unpublished novel - $30.000 each
Ghazi Hussein Al-Ali, The Unmistakable Black Mercedes Najib Nasr, Half A Human Lazhar Zanned, The Watchman: An Eye on Place and the Other on Time Dr. Saied Al-Allam, The Maiden of Granada Love Between Two Cities: Granada and Chefchaouen Salem Mahmoud Salem, Happened in Alexandria
2021 Source:
Prize for a published novel - $60,000 each
Habib Selmi Ahmed Al Qarmlawi Fajr Yaqoub Ayman Rajab Taher Nader Manhal Haj Omar
Prize for an unpublished novel - $30.000 each
Etidal Najeeb Al Shoufi from Syria Ghid Al Ghareb from Iraq Younis Ali from Morocco Muhammad Abdullah Al Hadi from Egypt Walid bin Ahmed from Tunisia. Prize for the studies category concerned with research and fiction criticism - $15,000 each Ahmed Adel Al Qadabi from Egypt Reda Jawadi from Tunisia Muhammad Al Dahi from Morocco Mamdouh Farraj Al Nabi from Egypt Yahya bin Al Walid from Morocco.
Prize for Young Adults category - $10,000 each
Al Hanouf Muhammad Al Wahaimed from Saudi Arabia Faisal Muhammad Abdullah Al Ansari from Qatar Dr. Omar Sofi Mohamed from Egypt Magdy Younes from Egypt Munira Al Darawi from Tunisia
Prize for the published Qatari novel
Shamma Shaheen Al Kuwari
2024 Source:
Prize for a published novel - $30,000 each
Alaa Halihal from Palestine for Seven Letters to Umm Kulthum Mohamed Tarzi from Lebanon for A Silenced Microphone Youssef Hussein from Egypt for Pawns and Medals
Prize for an unpublished novel - $30.000 each
Kouider Maimoni from Algeria for El Camino de la Muerte Liza Khaddar from Syria for The Wall of Shame Yassine Genni from Morocco for Absurdity
Prize for an unpublished historical novel, Dhyaa Jubaili from Iraq for The Duri Narrative in What Al-Tabari Didn’t Mention – The Zanj Rebellion
Prize for the studies category of research and fiction criticism - $30,000 each Belkacem Aissani from Algeria for his study The Narrative Thought Bouchaib Sawari from Morocco for Imagining Identity in the Arabic Novel Hashim Mirghani from Sudan for The Novel as a Stage for Identity Debates and its Reconstruction
Prize for Young Adults category - $15,000 each
Aboubakr Hammadi from Algeria for My Name is Libra Shaimaa Ali Gamal Eldin from Egypt for Reema’s House Alaa Al-Jaber from Iraq for The Land of Oranges and Olives
Prize for the published Qatari novel
Kulthum Jaber Al-Kuwari for her novel Bin Dirham’s Neighborhood
References