The sixth edition of the prestigious Katara Prize for Arabic Novel has achieved record participation with a total of 2,220 entries in various categories, a 20 percent increase from last year, the Cultural Village Foundation announced yesterday.
A total of $635,000 will be distributed to this year’s winners to be awarded on October 13 in line with the International Day of Novel that was adopted at the 20th session of the conference of Ministers Responsible for Cultural Affairs in the Arab World.
This year’s 2,220 entries comprise 1,005 unpublished novels, 930 published novels all released last year, 195 unpublished novels by young writers, 75 unpublished studies and 15 published Qatari novels.
Pointing out the continuous increase in the number of participants joining the Prize every year, Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, said it clearly reflects its importance and the leading role Katara plays in the field of Arabic novel and Arab creativity.
In terms of geographical distribution of participants, Egypt and Sudan came first in the Arab countries in terms of numbers with 986 participants, followed by Maghreb countries with 565 entries, then the Levant and Iraq with 533 participation. Gulf countries registered 124 participants, while 12 entries came from non-Arab countries.
Al Sulaiti highlighted that women’s participation in the Prize this year reached 552 while 1668 entries were by men.
Khalid Abdulrahim Al Sayed, General Supervisor of the Prize, said that the rise in the number of entries for this edition prompted the Prize Committee to increase the number of members of the jury to avoid delay in announcing the results.
Al Sayed stressed that this year has seen the addition of a new category which is the Qatari novel aimed at enhancing the presence of Qatari novels in local and Arab literary scene as well as encouraging Qatari novelists to be more creative in this literary genre which has been witnessing great momentum on the level of production where a number of young Qatari novelists have emerged both on print and online.
One of the richest literary prizes in the world, Katara Prize for Arabic Novel has a total prize of $635,000 to be distributed to 21 winners.
The $300,000 prize will be distributed equally to five winners in the published novel category, while $150,000 will be given away to five winners in the unpublished novel category each receiving $30,000. In the unpublished studies category, five winners will be selected to receive $15,000 each, while five winners will be chosen in the unpublished novels by young writers category to be awarded $10,000 each. One Qatari novelist will be selected to be the very first winner in this new category and receive $60,000.
