The American University in Cairo Press has released a shortlist for the $5,000 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, which supports contemporary Arabic literature in translation. In addition to a cash prize, the winning work earns translation and publication throughout the English-speaking world. The winner will be named December 11, the birthday of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. This year's shortlisted titles are:
The Sky Is Smoking Cigarettes (al-Sama' tudakhin al-saga'ir) by Wajdi al-Ahdal (Yemen)
The Glass Woman (al-Sayyida al-zujajiya) by Amr El-Adly (Egypt)
The Scribe: Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (al-Warraq Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi) by Hisham Eid (Egypt)
My Name Is Zayzafun (Ismi Zayzafun) by Sausan Jamil Hasan (Syria)
House of the Judge: The Journey of Qassim bin Yunis (Bayt al-qadi: masirat Qasim bin Yunis) by Mahmoud Adel Taha (Egypt)
Muted Microphone (Micrufun katim sawt) by Mohammed Tarazi (Lebanon).