Meanwhile, the shortlisted titles are:
Chased away (aka ‘The Vagrant’), Jabbour Douaihy, Lebanon, Dar an-Nahar
Embrace on Brooklyn Bridge, Ezzedine Choukri Fishere, Egypt, Dar al-Ain
The Druze of Belgrade, Rabee Jaber, Lebanon, Al-Markez al-Thaqafi al-Arabi
The Unemployed, Nasser Iraq, Egypt, Al-Dar al-Masriya al-Lubnaniya
Toy of Fire, Bashir Mufti, Algeria, Al-Ikhtilef
The Women of al-Basatin, Habib Selmi, Tunisia, Dar al-Adab
Three of the shortlisted authors have been shortlisted for the Prize before: Jabbour Douaihy (June Rain, 2008), Habib Selmi (The Scents of Marie-Claire, 2009) and Rabee Jaber (America, 2010), whilst Ezzedine Choukri Fishere was longlisted for the Prize in 2009 for Intensive Care.
The shortlist was announced by Georges Tarabichi, 2012 Chair of Judges, at a press conference at Cairo’s prestigious Dar al Opera. Until this point the 2012 Judges have remained anonymous but were today revealed as:
Syrian writer and critic Georges Tarabichi (Chair)
Lebanese journalist and literary critic, Maudie Bitar
Egyptian academic and women’s rights activist Professor Hoda Elsadda
Qatari writer and academic Dr Huda al-Naimi
Spanish academic, translator and researcher Dr Gonzalo Fernández Parrilla.
The six shortlisted titles were chosen from a longlist of 13, announced in November 2011, selected from 101 submissions from 15 countries across the Arab world.
