The curtains fell on the 28th edition of the COMAR D’OR Literary Awards organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The Municipal Theater of the city of Tunis hosted the awards ceremony this Saturday, marking the apotheosis of a celebration long awaited by book enthusiasts and bibliophiles.
The time of consecration for the most seasoned novelists who are rewarded with the Comar d’Or prize and the special Jury prize, and that of revelation for budding novelists with the award of the Discovery Prize.
The complete list was revealed during a Tarab evening organized this Saturday in Tunis and hosted by singer Eya Daghnouj and singer Mehdi Ayachi.
The evening was enhanced by the presence of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Moncef Boukthir who is also responsible for the management of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and the General Director of Comar Assurances Lotfi Ben Haj Kacem.
For this year, the Comar d’Or for the novel in French was awarded to Azza Filali for her novel “Misunderstandings” while the Comar d’Or for the novel in Arabic went to Sahbi Karaani for her novel “Defeter el jilani weld’ Ahmed“.
The special jury prize for the novel in the French language was awarded to Wafa Ghorbel for his novel “Fleurir” while the special jury prize for the novel in the Arabic language went to Kalthoum Ayachi for his novel “Hadra”.
As for the Discovery Prize for novels in French, it was awarded to Atef Gadhouni for his novel “Pour que il faire plus beau” and the Discovery Prize for novels in Arabic to Chaker Nacef for his novel “Arch el mejanine”.
Endowed with an amount of 10,000 dinars, the Comar d’Or prize is awarded to the best novel in both languages. It is considered to be the highest distinction of this literary competition, while the Special Jury Prizes are worth 5,000 dinars each. The Discovery Prizes are worth 2,500 dinars.
The award-winning novels during this session were selected from a list of 21 novels in French and 37 novels in Arabic.
Concerning the jury of this edition for novels in French, it is composed of Ridha Kefi, Mokhtar Sahnoun, Kamel Ben Ouanes, Monia Mouakher Kalel, Mohamed Harmel. For novels in Arabic the jury is made up of Mohamed El Khadhi, Neziha Khelifi, Hafidha Kara Bibene, Ahmed Guesmi and Hafedh Mahfoudh.
Applications for this edition have been opened for all novels by Tunisian authors published during the period from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
A tribute was paid on this occasion to the late novelist Ali Becheur, who died at the age of 85. He received the Comar d’Or prize three times (1997, 2006, 2018).
Each year, three prizes are awarded by Comar for novels in each of the two languages, namely: the Comar d’Or Prize for best novel, the Special Jury Prizes and the Discovery Prizes.
