‘The Iraqi Christ’, which presents Iraq as a surrealist inferno, has yet to be published in its original Arabic

For the first time in its 24-year history, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize has been won by an Arab writer, Hassan Blasim, for his second short story collection, The Iraqi Christ, translated by Jonathan Wright and published by Comma Press. This is also the first time a short story collection has been victorious.

Blasim and Wright share the £10,000 prize, which they received at a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London this evening, May 22nd. More.

See: The Irish Times

See also: PEN-supported title The Iraqi Christ wins the 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

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