Abdelouahab Aissaoui wins 2020 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, 'The Spartan Court'.

Celebrated Algerian author Abdelouahab Aissaoui discussed his novel The Spartan Court, winner of the 2020 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, IPAF, during the latest Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) virtual session.

Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, DCT Abu Dhabi, the session was streamed on ADIBF YouTube channel yesterday, as part of the ADIBF Virtual Session Series, which was launched following the postponement of the 30th edition of ADIBF due to the current global health crisis.

Aissaoui kicked off the session by stressing the great honour of winning the IPAF, which stands among the world's most prestigious fiction awards, taking into consideration its exceptional evaluation system and promotional strategies.

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"Winning this prize only marks the beginning of a new chapter for the winning title, ensuring global coverage and a chance to be published in other languages," he said.

The author underlined how The Spartan Court engages readers urging them to reflect on Algeria's situation during colonial rule and its current situation simultaneously. He believed this alignment of past and present was the building ground for his historical novel.

Previous ADIBF Virtual Sessions have featured the Swedish behavioural expert Thomas Erikson, military survival specialist John Hudson; Lemn Sissay, the award-winning British-Ethiopian poet; Annabel Karmel, the children’s cookbook author; educator and environmentalist Stephen Ritz; and Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen.