Libyan, 31, wins top Arabic fiction prize with his debut novel about gender roles
- Mohammed Alnaas is youngest winner of prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction, with ‘Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table’
- Book explores gender roles in male-dominated closed village society, where Milad is deemed to have failed as a man after taking on home role typically reserved for women, while his partner works
Libyan author Mohammed Alnaas has become the youngest winner of the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction with his debut novel “Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table” which tackles definitions of manhood.
Alnaas, 31, will receive US$50,000 and funds will also be provided to translate his book into English, organisers said on their website on Sunday.
The prize, along with a further US$50,000 divided between five other shortlisted novelists, is publicly funded by Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
Published by Rashm, with support from the Libyan Arete Foundation, the winning novel explores gender roles in the male-dominated closed society of a Libyan village.
It recounts the story of Milad, who strives to live up to the definition of ideal masculinity but is deemed to have failed as “a man” after taking on a home role typically reserved for women while his partner, Zeinab, works and supports the family.
Born in 1991, freelance journalist Alnaas published a short story collection, “Blue Blood”, in 2020, but “Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table” is his first novel.
He is the first Libyan author and youngest writer to win the prize, which was launched in 2007, aimed at boosting the international reach of Arabic fiction by funding English translation for its winners.