The Golden Comar Prize 2019: A Report by Ali Znaidi
The Golden Comar Prize was created in 1997 by the insurance company (Compagnie Méditerranéenne d’assurances et de Réassurances) Comar (Tunisie) by Rachid Ben Jemia to support literary creation, and encourage Tunisian writers, especially novelists.
The 23rd edition of the Golden Comar Prize was held on April 27, 2019 at the Municipal Theatre of Tunis (Théâtre Municipal de Tunis). The ceremony was attended by a number of intellectual, cultural, media and artistic figures as well as the Minister of the Cultural Affairs Mohamed Zine El-Abidine.
This edition was dedicated to the soul of Rachid Ben Yedder, president of the Amen Group who passed away on January 23, 2019 at the age of 84.
The Arabic version of the prize was awarded to Tarek Chibani for his novel (Lella Essayida) Lady Essayida.
The French version of the prize was awarded jointly to Mohamed Bouamoud for his novel (La princesse de Bizerte) The Princess of Bizerte, and Rafik Darragi for his novel (Jugurtha Un contre-portrait) Jugurtha A Counter-portrait.
The other prizes went as follows:
*Arabic language prizes:
-The Jury Special Prize was awarded to Abdelkader Alimi for his novel (Sakakine Amyaa) Blind Knives.
-Discovery Prize was awarded to Chaouki Barnousi for his novel (Maazak Tchaikovsky) Tchaikovsky’s Predicament.
*French language prizes:
-The Jury Special Prize was not awarded this year.
-Discovery Prize was awarded to Alyssa Belghith for her novel (L’amant de la mer) The Sea’s Lover.
The Three Laureats Of The Arabic Section Receiving Their Prizes From Mohamed Zine El-Abidine, Minister of the Cultural Affairs. Photo Credit Kapitalis. http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2019/04/28/reportage-la-soiree-des-prix-litteraires-comar-dor-2019-en-photos/
The Laureats And The Judging Panel Of The French Section. Photo Credit Kapitalis. http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2019/04/28/reportage-la-soiree-des-prix-litteraires-comar-dor-2019-en-photos/
Extracts from the awarding ceremony. (La soirée de remise des Prix littéraires COMAR d’OR 2019). Video Credit COMAR Assurances Youtube Channel.
The Golden Comar Prize 2019 Awarding Ceremony. Video Credit COMAR Assurances Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/comarassurances/videos/1151867911652100/
Around 34 novels in Arabic and 13 novels in French competed for the afore-mentioned prizes.
As far as the judging panel of this 23rd edition is concerned, the Arabic section includes Massouda Ben Boubaker, Neziha Khlifi, Monia Abidi, Abdelwahed Brahem, and Hedi Thabet, and the French section includes Ridha Kefi, Meriem Belkadhi, Mounira Chapoutot, Kamel Ben Ouanès, and Chaabane Harbaoui.
- Congratulations to all the winners! §
