International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) 2016 longlist to be announced on 12 January

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), announced today that the  longlist of IPAF 2016 - worth a total of $60,000 to the winner - will be revealed in a week's time, on Tuesday 12 January. The longlist will comprise 16 novels chosen from 159 entries from18 countries, all published within the last 12 months, submitted by 82 publishers. The number of entries has dropped by 21, approximately 12%,from the figure of 180 last year, although the number of countries has increased by 3 from last year's 15. Of the 2016 entries, 38 (24%) are by female writers, while 49 (31%) of the authors are under 40: representation of both categories has been steadily increasing since the Prize began, IPAF notes.

The identities of the five members of the IPAF 2016 judging panel will - as is customary with IPAF - not be revealed until the IPAF 2016 six-book shortlist is announced in Muscat, Oman, on Tuesday 9 February. 
The winner will be announced at ceremony in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday 26 April 2016 to coincide with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The announcement will be followed by a post-ceremony press conference with the 2016 winner, at the same venue.

IPAF  is awarded for prose fiction in Arabic, with the winner receiving $50,000 plus the $10,000 that goes to each shortlisted finalist. The Prize was  launched in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in April 2007, and is supported by the Booker Prize Foundation in London and funded by the TCA Abu Dhabi in the UAE. For further information see the IPAF website at http://www.arabicfiction.org/