Golden Comar Prize 2020 announced in Tunis, Tunisia.

The winners of the Golden Comar Prize 2020 were announced in Tunis, Tunisia on September 22, 2020.

The Golden Comar Prize was created in 1997 by the insurance company Compagnie Méditerranéenne d’assurances et de Réassurances (Comar) by Rachid Ben Jemia to support literary creation, and encourage Tunisian writers, especially novelists. The prize which is Tunisia’s top literary award is handed out for writing in French and Arabic. Some previous winners have been Mouldi Dhaou, Hanene Jenane, Mohamed Harmel, and Wafa Ghorbel in 2016; Béchir Garbouj and Yemen Mannai in 2017; and Khairia Boubtane and Ali Bécheur in 2018.

The judges for the 2020 edition were Massouda Ben Boubaker, Neziha Khlifi, Monia Abidi, Abdelwahed Brahem, and Mohamed El Kadhi for Arabic, and Ridha Kefi, Kamel Ben Ouanès, Rabaa Abdelkefi, Mounira Chapoutot, and Chaabane Harbaoui for French.

This panel of judges announced the winners of the awards who are;

Arabic language prizes

• Grand Comar: Hassouna Mosbahi, La Nasbahou Fi Annahr Marratayn (We Don’t Swin Twice in the River).
• The Jury Special Prize: Amira Ghenim, Nazlet Dar El Akaber (Dar El Akaber’s Case),
• Discovery Prize: Lazhar Zanned, El Esfanja (The Sponge).

French language prizes

• Samir Makhlouf, Merminus infinitif (The Final Terminus of the Sea).
• The Jury Special Prize: Sami Mokaddem, Le Secret des Barcides (The Secret of the Barcids).
• Discovery Prize: Hakim Bécheur, L’avant-centre de l’Étoile (The Center Front of the Star).

Read a fuller report of this awards ceremony by Ali Znaidi at the Tunisian Literature blog here.