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International prize for Arabic fiction shortlist tells story of region’s tensions
Selection for ‘Arabic Booker’ focuses on ‘tyranny formerly present in the Arab world’From family life in Tunisia to a man imprisoned in Dubai for a murder he didn’t commit and a man struggling to resolve the contradictions of his multiple identity in New York, the shortlist for the 2012 International prize for Arabic fiction offers portraits of life from Beirut to Brooklyn. Speaking after the announcement of the all-male shortlist at a ceremony in Cairo on Wednesday, the chair of the judges, Georges Tarabichi, saluted the “innovative use of new styles” by the authors shortlisted for the $50,000 award, many of whom concentrated on “corruption and tyranny formerly prevalent in the Arab world”.