2015 International Prize for Arabic Fiction |

features

The Italian: Some insights, but homophobia and misogyny galore

Ismail Fayed | When it is not maligning women and LGBT characters, The Italian is insightful on the contemporary history

2 January 2016

99 floors down: Jana Elhassan’s IPAF-shortlisted novel disappoints

Ismail Fayed | Jana Elhassan's bodice-ripping Floor 99 makes Ismail Fayed wonder about the criteria by which works are

20 December 2015

The ecstatic madness of the Mahdiyya

Ismail Fayed | If the novel should be called out for its superficial dabbling with mysticism and a problematic premise,

27 November 2015

Impressed by a novel about compromised idealism in Tunisia

Sherif Abdel Samad | Shukri Mabkhout’s first novel starts with a bizarre tomb scene in which the main character beats to

2 November 2015

Writing the Impossible in Gaza: A Suspended Life

Ismail Fayed | Ismail Fayed reviews another IPAF shortlisted novel, this time Atef Abu Seif's 400-page fifth novel,

27 October 2015

Threadbare narratives: Lina Hawyan al-Hassan’s Diamonds and Women

Ismail Fayed | Part fashion memoir, part historical research and part literary snippets, Diamonds and Women reconstructs

7 October 2015

Damning portrait: A review of Mumar al-Safsaf

Ismail Fayed | Ismail Fayed is reading and reviewing the six novels shortlisted for the 2015 International Prize for

6 July 2015