Postponement of the Ninth Session of the Short Story Meeting Award
The launch of the Arab Short Story Forum Prize in 2015, originating from Kuwait, marked a significant cultural and creative turning point in the history of modern Arabic short fiction. At a time when novel awards dominated the Arab cultural landscape—exerting a severe negative impact on the publication and dissemination of short story collections, to the extent that many Arab publishers refrained from publishing any such collections—the establishment of the Forum Prize served as a lifeline for Arabic short fiction. This was particularly true given the presence of numerous prominent Arabic short story writers on the prize’s first advisory board, including Zakaria Tamer, Mohammed Khider, Saif al-Kafrawi, Sulaiman Al-Shatti, Ismail Fahd Ismail, and Laila Al-Othman, alongside foreign publishers, critics, and translators. This robust composition ensured that the prize project was born on a grand scale, under the auspices of the American University in Kuwait.
This notable inception quickly led to the prize’s widespread dissemination, attracting short story writers from all corners of the Arab world and beyond. The number of applicants exceeded 250 writers annually, which in turn rekindled the spark of Arabic publishing for the short story genre. In its third cycle (2018–2019), coinciding with the establishment and launch of the Arab Awards Forum in Riyadh, the prize secured the position of Vice President, further solidifying its status as the most important Arab award for Arabic short fiction. This prominence was reinforced by the fact that winning collections secured international translations, establishing the prize as the central hub and primary benchmark for Arabic short fiction. Consequently, its winners made a striking presence on the stage of Arabic short fiction, including Mazen Maarouf, Shahla Al-Ajili, Diaa Jubaili, Shaikha Halawi, Anis Al-Rafai, Samir Al-Fil, Najma Idris, and Mahmoud Al-Rahbi.
The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters’ sponsorship of the last two cycles of the prize further guaranteed its esteemed standing, owing to the Council’s substantial cultural legacy as Kuwait’s premier cultural institution. The ninth cycle of the prize (2026–2027) was scheduled to launch in May/June of last year. However, due to difficulties in organizing the cycle and widespread Arab inquiries regarding the prize, and considering the transparency the prize has adopted as a guiding principle, the advisory board deliberated on the details of the ninth cycle and decided to postpone its launch to a near future date, to be announced at the earliest opportunity. It was emphasized that, with a track record spanning over a decade, the prize will remain the most significant presence in the genre of Arabic short fiction, and that its ninth cycle will be presented in a new format, featuring broad Arab and international participation.
