Libyan author Mohamed Alnaas won the 2022 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his novel Bread on Uncle Milad's Table.
Alnaas’s novel, which was published by Rashm, was named the winner by the prize organization’s chair of judges Shukri Mabkhout in Abu Dhabi on May 22, 2022.
Mabkhout wrote in an announcement about the novel, “Its plethora of details is deftly unified by a gripping narrative, which offers a deep and meticulous critique of prevailing conceptions of masculinity and femininity and the division of work between men and women, and the effect of these on both a psychological and social level.”
‘Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table’ by #Libyan debut novelist Mohamed Alnaas has been announced as the winner of the 2022 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (#IPAF), reports Emirates News Agency (WAM).https://t.co/V822dohcX7
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 23, 2022
As the winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Alnass will receive $50,000 USD and funding will be provided for an English translation of his novel.
Bread on Uncle Milad's Table is written in the form of confessions and is based off Alnaas’s personal experiences living in Libya.
Mabkhout praised Alnass’s intimate writing that addresses gender norms in a society where such issues are not openly discussed.
Congratulations to the winner! Mohamed Alnaas has just been announced as the winner of this year’s #ArabicFiction2022 with Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table: https://t.co/ehZILAQMAW #MohamedAlnaas #winner pic.twitter.com/RuFYunCFDr
— International Prize for Arabic Fiction (@Arabic_Fiction) May 22, 2022
Mabkhout wrote, “It falls into the category of novels which question cultural norms about gender; however, it is embedded in its local Arab context, and steers away from trivial projections or an ideological treatment of the issues, which would be contrary to the relativism of fiction and its ability to present multiple points of view.”
According to the prize organization website, Alnaas is a short story writer and journalist from Libya who was born in 1991. He studied at the University of Tripoli and received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2014.
He wrote Bread on Uncle Milad's Table during quarantine and while Tripoli was being bombed in an ongoing war that has devastated the country. It was his first novel and one he wrote in six months.
Alnaas told the International Prize for Arabic Fiction organization that writing Bread on Uncle Milad's Table was his “refuge from insanity” while the pandemic and war raged around him.
