Egyptian writers use history to highlight the present

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction, known as the "Arab Booker," is seen as the ultimate literary honor for Arab novelists. The award aims to encourage the writing of contemporary literature in Arabic and to have Arabic fiction translated and published in other languages. The work of the winners often gets translated into English and foreign languages.

This year, two Egyptian writers — Rasha Adly and Ahmad Abdulatif — were included among the 10 names that had been selected from 124 applications from 14 countries in the Arabic-speaking world. Even though they did not make the shortlist that was announced Feb. 21, the Egyptian literary press has been writing about them since.