How Katara Prize for Novel is growing into a global award

Culture unites. It connects. It heals. That’s the beauty of culture in this world of digital distractions, discord, divisions and differences. Culture is that common strain that runs through us all, which we embrace and love, that bond of harmony, uniformity and distinctive identity we live in and celebrate regardless of who and from where we are. And that’s why our work at Katara Cultural Village is so gratifying and fulfilling. Literature forms an integral part of culture, and in October this year, like in previous years, Katara hosted a landmark event to celebrate Arabic literature – the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel. Started in 2014, Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is one of the most grandiose and significant initiatives of Katara and has grown to become one of the richest and most coveted Arabic fiction prizes in the world. Scores of prominent novelists from several Arab countries have won these awards, catapulting themselves to global fame, each winner taking home $30,000 in cash along with other benefits

Literature forms an integral part of culture, and in October this year, like in previous years, Katara hosted a landmark event to celebrate Arabic literature – the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel.

The phenomenal number of submissions we are receiving is a testament to the success of the award. While our objective was more modest when we set up the award in 2014, which was to promote and support Arabic novel, more than a decade later, it has acquired a whole new meaning and significance due to the indomitable challenges posed by social media and AI which has adversely impacted the reading habit. When attention spans get reduced to minutes and seconds, how do you get people to read novels which require patience? That’s why our awards, and other awards too, become more important than ever

The good news is that inspired by the success of Katara Prize for Arabic Novel, the Prize Committee has decided to expand the awards to cover English, French and Spanish novels, which will make Katara Prize one of the biggest, most prestigious and sought after literary prizes in the world. Together, these three languages account for some of the best and most scintillating fiction produced in the world, covering a large number of countries, and with Arabic awards already in existence, Katara Prize will enjoy the unique honour of being a global prize that covers most of the world’s quality fiction!