As Hungarian-British author David Szalay wins the Booker Prize for “Flesh,” this year, we take a look at previous winners of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, or the Arabic Booker.
Bahaa Taher (Egypt, 2008)
The inaugural IPAF winner, Taher’s historical novel “Sunset Oasis” explores colonial tension and personal disillusionment in late 19th-century Egypt.Youssef Ziedan (Egypt, 2009)
Ziedan’s philosophical novel, “Azazeel,” set in early Christian Syria and Egypt, won acclaim for its daring themes and elegant classical style.Abdo Khal (Saudi Arabia, 2010)
Khal's “Throwing Sparks” is a satirical novel about the corrupting influence of power and wealth, told through the story of Tariq.Ahmed Saadawi (Iraq, 2014)
Saadawi’s darkly imaginative wartime spin on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” as “Frankenstein in Baghdad,” captured global attention and awards.Jokha Al-Harthi (Oman, 2019)
Al-Harthi was internationally celebrated for her Booker International Prize-winning “Celestial Bodies,” which follows the lives of three sisters and their unhappy marriages.Basem Khandakji (Palestine, 2024)
His novel “A Mask, the Color of the Sky,” written during confinement in an Israeli prison, follows an archaeologist living in Ramallah camp who assumes an Israeli person’s identity to join a dig.
