Katara – the Cultural Village Foundation inaugurated yesterday the second edition of Katara Prize for Arabic novel.
“Over a short period of time, Katara prize for Arabic novel has become a highly-reputable and recognised platform where Arab creative writers and intellectuals meet, share experiences and get their works celebrated,” Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti said.
He explained that the current edition of the Prize has received 1,004 entries in three categories, such as unpublished novels (732), published novels (234) and literary criticism studies (38).
Katara has received 375 submissions from Egypt and Sudan, 260 from Iraq and the Levant, 257 from northern Arab-African countries, 105 from the GCC countries and Yemen and seven submissions from non-Arab countries. The top five published submissions from the first category will each be awarded $60,000. The top five unpublished submissions from the second category will each be awarded $30,000.
The top five unpublished studies from the third research, evaluation and literary criticism category will each be awarded $15,000. The top five unpublished young-adult novels from the fourth category will each be awarded $10,000.
It was also announced that the deadline for receiving entries to the Katara third edition of the Arab Novel Prize will be December 31, 2016.
The launch event of the second edition yesterday also featured a ceremony in which last year’s winners signed their novels that have been translated to English and French, in the published and the unpublished categories.