Benghazi, Lybia, some time in the first half of the past century, Atiqa now a free woman, hears the story of her mother’s life as a slave and lover for the first time.

The women of Syria have to fight not only the Regime, or the Islamist rebels; they have to fight the whole of a patriarchal society, including male revolutionaries. Yazbek collects their stories.

Hoda Barakat wins the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais prize, in the Novel category. The prize will be given to her during a ceremony in Dubai, in March 2018.
The very prestigious prize has been given in the past to major Arab artists, intellectuals and writers such as Sa’ad Allah Wanous, Abdul Rahman Mouneef, Nizar Qabbani, Edward Al Kharrat, Jamal Al Ghitani, Edward Said, Zakaria Tamir, Mahmoud Darwish, Adonis, Elias Khoury, Amin Maalouf, and many more.
 
 

The prize for Arabic Literature was created in 2013 by the Foundation Jean-Luc Lagardère and the Arab World Institute in Paris. The 10,000 euros prize rewards one author (national of a state member of the Arab ligue) of a literary work written or translated into French. The prize will be awarded on October 18th in Paris, by former minister of culture Jack Lang during a ceremony that takes place at the Arab World Institute.