Three Moroccan novels have been selected Tuesday in Abu Dhabi for the 2014 Arab fiction Booker prize, in a list of 16 other Arab novels. The contesting novels (from Morocco, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine) were selected among 156 other from 18 Arab countries. A first list of six shortlisted novels will be announced on February 10 and the 2014 award winner will be unveiled on April 19 in Abu Dhabi. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is one of the most prestigious and important literary prizes in the Arab world. Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing and to encourage the readership of high quality Arabic literature internationally through the translation and publication of winning and shortlisted novels in other major languages. The Prize is run with the support of the Booker Prize Foundation in London and funded by TCA Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Source: MAP