Bait AlGhasham DarArab International Translation Prize
International Prize for Translating Arabic Literature Into English - 3rd Round 2026
- Introduction
Bait AlGhasham DarArab International Translation Prize is a cooperation between Bait AlGhasham for Press, Publishing, and Advertising (Oman) and DarArab for Publishing and Translation (United Kingdom) that have started on 2023. Each year, this prize acknowledges and honours outstanding Arabic literature by making it intern ationally accessible through translation into English. This prize honours the significant role that translation plays in promoting understanding and communication among cultures, languages, and individuals worldwide. The prize is funded by Bait AlGhasham and managed by DarArab.
Bait AlGhasham for Press, Publishing and Advertising, the Prize funder, is a private cultural and media foundation, was established in 2012 by Sayyid Ali bin Hamood bin Ali Al Busaidi to promote Arab culture at various levels in publishing, translation and creativity.
- 1970
In honour of the memory of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said (1940 – 2020), the late sultan of Oman, the Bait AlGhasham DarArab International Translation Prize has set the year 1970 as a watershed year for the Translators category. For submissions in this category, the first edition of the original work must have been published after or during the year 1970. In addition to broadening the eligibility for submissions while still focusing on the modern Arabic literature, 1970 is a milestone year in the history of Oman and its contributions to Arabic literature. In 1970, Sultan Qaboos ascended to the throne and, since then, he has not only been known as the father of modern Oman but also for his numerous contributions to international literature and scholarship. Sultan Qaboos has established 16 academic chairs across many countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Netherlands, China, and Japan. Most of these chairs are dedicated to Arabic language, Arabic literature, and Middle Eastern studies.
- Vision & Mission & Objectives
Vision
To create a more interconnected global literary community, where English-language readers can access and appreciate literature originally written in Arabic, and where translators’ efforts are valued and supported for their vital role in making this possible.
Mission
This prize aims to acknowledge and honour exceptional translations of literature from Arabic to English. Its mission is to foster cultural exchange and understanding between diverse linguistic and cultural communities, while emphasising the critical role of translation in making literature more widely accessible. In addition, by providing financial and professional support to translators, the prize also aims to encourage their ongoing efforts in expanding the availability of diverse Arabic literary works into English.
Objectives
1. To address the lack of diverse literary works translated from Arabic and published in English.
2. To introduce modern Arabic literary works to English-speaking readers worldwide.
3. To increase the exposure of Arab writers and their works to a worldwide audience.
4. To acknowledge, appreciate, and support the ongoing endeavours of Arabic language authors and Arabic-English translators.
- Prize Values & Categories
Prize Value
The total value of the prize is £70,000 and is allocated for two purposes: First, as a financial reward for the winners of the prize. Second, to cover the expenses of translating, editing, publishing, and marketing the winning works.
Eligible Genres: Novels, Short-Story Collections, and Poetry Collections.
The prize consists of three categories:
1- Translators Category
“Prize for an Unpublished Translation of a Published Literary Work”.
This category is reserved for literary works that have originally been published in Arabic but are yet to be translated into English. The first edition of the work must have been published during , or after, the year 1970.
The application should be submitted by the Translator of the work.
The total prize fund for this category is approximately £20,000. The winning work will receive:
– £2,000 for the author of the winning work only.
– £2,000 for the winning translator/s plus the cost of the translation itself, based on the pricing approved by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom, currently £100 per thousand words for prose and for poetry a £1.10 per line with a minimum of £35 per poem.
The remaining budget will be used to cover the expenses of editing, publishing, and marketing the winning translation. The winning translation will be exclusively published by DarArab for Publishing and Translation.
2- Authors Category
“Prize for Unpublished Arabic Literary Work”.
This category is dedicated to unpublished literary works in the Arabic language that fall within the specific areas of the above literary genres.
The application should be submitted by the Author of the work only.
The total prize fund for this category is approximately £22,000.
– The winning author will receive a cash prize of £2,000. In addition to publishing the work in Arabic, the work will also be translated and published into English.
The remaining budget will be used to cover the expenses of translating, editing, publishing, and marketing the winning work. The winning work will be exclusively published in both languages by DarArab for Publishing and Translation.
3- Omani Publications Category
“Prize for published Omani Literary Work”.
This category is dedicated to Omani published literary works in the Arabic language that fall within within the specific areas of the above literary genres.
The application should be submitted by either the Author or the Publisher of the work.
The total prize fund for this category is approximately £18,000.
– £2,000 for the author of the winning work.
The remaining budget will be used to cover the expenses of translating, editing, publishing, and marketing the winning work. The translation of the winning work will be exclusively published by DarArab for Publishing and Translation.
- Board of Trustees
1- Marilyn Booth, (Chairman – USA)
Marilyn Booth is Professor Emerita at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Magdalen College, Oxford University. Her research focuses on Arabophone women’s writing and gender ideology debates in the nineteenth century, most recently illustrated by her work “The Career and Communities of Zaynab Fawwaz: Feminist Thinking in Fin-de-siècle Egypt” (Oxford University Press, 2021). She has translated numerous works of Arabic fiction into English. Notably, her translation of “Celestial Bodies” by Omani author Jokha Alharthi won the 2019 Man Booker International Prize. She has also translated “Bitter Orange Tree” and “Silken Gazelles” by Alharthi. Other authors she has translated include Hoda Barakat, Hassan Daoud, Elias Khoury, Latifa al-Zayyat, Nawal al-Saadawi, and Zahran Alqasmi. Upcoming translations include Syrian Kurdish author Jan Dost’s “Safe Corridor” (DarArab), as well as her first venture into translating nineteenth-century fiction with Alis al-Bustani’s “Sa’iba” (Oxford World’s Classics). She and Jan Dost were the recipients of the first round of Bait AlGhasham DarArab international Translation Award (2024).
2- Mohamed Alyahyai, (Member – Oman)
Mohamed Alyahyai is an accomplished author, journalist, researcher, and documentary film maker. In the past thirty years, he has held leading media roles in Oman, the US, and Qatar. In addition to his literary and media achievements, he has initiated and taken part in several cultural initiatives in Oman, such as the Omani Short Stories Society (1986) and the Muscat Poetry Festival (1996), of which he has been the head of its organising committee. He has published several books, including novels and short-story collections, and works on media, politics, and history, in addition to several articles. Some of his works have been translated into English, Spanish, German, and Swedish. He has produced four long-form documentary films. Alyahyai holds a Ph.D. in modern history and has a distinguished fellowship from the International Forum for Democratic Studies in Washington DC.
3- Sawad Hussain, (Member – UK)
Sawad Hussain is a translator from Arabic whose work has been recognised by English PEN, the Anglo-Omani Society and the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, among others. She is a judge for the Palestine Book Awards and the 2023 National Translation Award. She has run translation workshops under the auspices of Shadow Heroes, Africa Writes, Shubbak Festival, the Yiddish Book Center, the British Library and the National Centre for Writing. Her most recent translations include Black Foam by Haji Jaber (AmazonCrossing) and What Have You Left Behind by Bushra al-Maqtari (Fitzcarraldo Editions).
Her website is: https://sawadhussain.com
Tasks of the Board
● Adoption of the prize’s statutes.
● Approving the members of the arbitration committees for each edition of the prize.
● Approving the results of the prize’s arbitration committees.
- Judges
Translators Category Judging Panel
Dr. Samaher Al-Damen
is a Saudi writer and academic specializing in comparative literature, cultural studies, and film. She serves as Assistant Professor at the College of Humanities and Social Studies at King Saud University. Dr. Al-Damen has participated in numerous literary seminars and conferences, and her work spans across literary criticism, architecture, cinema, and biopolitics, with several books and scholarly articles to her name.
Marcia Lynx Qualey 
is the founder of ArabLit and co-founder of WorldKidLit. As a translator, she has brought several Arabic works into English, including the Palestine Book Award-winning Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands by Sonia Nimr and Wild Poppies by Haya Saleh, which was shortlisted for the 2025 GLLI Award. She was also shortlisted for the Banipal Prize for her translations of the first two novels in Nimr’s Thunderbird series, and in 2024, she received the Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature.
Dr. Luke Leafgren 
is a lecturer in Arabic-English literary translation and the Allston Burr Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Mather House. He has translated nine Arabic literary works into English and is a two-time recipient of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation—for The President’s Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli (2018) and Mister N by Najwa Barakat (2023). In 2025, he received the Bait AlGhasham DarArab International Translation Prize in the Translators Category.
Authors Category and Omani Publication Category Judging Panel
Dr. Amir Taj A’Sir
is a Sudanese physician and acclaimed novelist. He has published extensively across genres, including novels, biographies, and poetry, with many of his works translated into English, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Persian, Turkish, and Chinese. A regular contributor to Arab newspapers including Al Jazeera Net, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, and Doha Magazine, Taj A’Sir has also led writing workshops and served as a judge for several major Arab literary prizes.
Bushra Khalfan
is an Omani writer of fiction and poetry. She has published several works across the genres of the novel, short story, and poem. Her novel Dilshad was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2022 and won the Katara Novel Prize the same year. Khalfan is a frequent participant in cultural forums and literary conferences and has served on judging panels for numerous Omani and Arab literary competitions.
Yas Al Saidi
is an Iraqi poet, novelist, and playwright whose work spans poetry, fiction, and theatre. He has received numerous literary honors, including the Sharjah Award for Arabic Creativity, the Castello di Duino Prize—accompanied by the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic for his poem An Ornament in the Memory of the Old Wanderer—as well as the ALECSO Award, the Afrabia Award for Poetry, the Fadwa Touqan Award, and the al-Tayeb Salih Prize for Literary Creativity. In 2024, he won the Bait AlGhasham DarArab International Translation Prize in the Authors Category for his work Muwjaz Anba’ Al Hawajes.
- How To Submit
Complete the entry form for the related category and upload soft copies of the required documents (PDF format is preferred).
Once submitted, the applicant will receive confirmation of receipt via email.
Please do not send soft copies of the work to our email unless we request you to
do so.
Applications for the 2026 cycle will be accepted from March 2025 – 31st July
2025.
Please direct any questions to: prize@dararab.co.uk.
Time till Submission Opens
- Submit Now