Doha: Katara Cultural Village announced the launch of the ‘Katara Prize for Arabic Novel’ festival yesterday. The festival will start on May 18 and will continue till May 21. The award winners will be honoured with their prizes on May 20.
The festival includes several literary activities.
Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, Katara General Manager, said at a press conference yesterday: “The Katara prize is first of its kind that considers novels, plays and translated works. The prize is aimed at motivating outstanding Arab novelists and innovative writers to move towards new horizons of creativity and excellence and thus to ensure the presence of Arabic novels at the regional and international levels. We can say that Katara becomes a new station in the world of Arabic novel.”
He added that there are more than 700 entries for the competition in published and unpublished sections from all Arab countries, mostly from Egypt and Sudan and non-Arab countries such as Iran, Chad and Eritrea.
A Katara Centre for Arabic Novel, Qatari Novelists’ Gallery and seminars on Arabic novels will be held during the days of the celebrations. Al Sulaiti added that they will also launch Katara prize stamps.
Khaled Al Sayed, General Supervisor for the Katara Arabic Novel Prize, said that they have received 475 entries in unpublished novels category and 236 entries in published novels category.
There will be five prizes worth $30,000 each in the published novels category with a total prize money of $300,000.
In the second category, five winners will receive $30,000 each.
Third category for the best novel would be for drama, and the value of the prize is $200,000.
The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is committed to the values of independence, transparency, honesty and fairness in the selection of the winners, Al Sayid stressed.
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