The shortlist of six titles will be announced on December 9th in Doha, Qatar (which is when the list of panelists will also be revealed), and the winner will be announced on March 14th, during the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Shortlisted authors receive $10,000, with the winner receiving an additional $50,000. (Not bad, not bad.)

Anyway, here are the 16 titles, with descriptions (from the press materials) of a few that sound interesting:

• Mohammed Achaari, The Arch and the Butterfly (Morroccan)

Tackling the themes of Islamic extremism and terrorism from a new angle, The Arch and the Butterfly explores the effect of terrorism on family life. It tells the story of a left-wing father who one day receives a letter from Al-Qaeda informing him that his son, who he believes is studying in Paris, has died a martyr in Afghanistan. The novel looks at the impact of this shocking news on the life of its hero and consequently on his relationship with his wife.

• Raja Alem, The Doves’ Necklace (Saudi Arabian)

• Maqbui Moussa Al-Alawi, Turmoil in Jeddah (Saudi Arabian)

• Khalid Al-Bari, An Oriental Dance (Egyptian)

• Fawaz Haddad, God’s Soldiers (Syrian)

• Maha Hassan, Secret Rope (Syrian)

Secret Rope contrasts life in Syria and France through the story of a mother and daughter. After her marriage in Syria, the daughter finds she must return to France to pursue a life of freedom that she cannot achieve in her homeland.

• Renee Hayek, A Short Life (Lebanese)

• Bensalem Himmich, My Tormentor (Moroccan)

In a gripping novel, whose narrative style is a blend of Kafka and One Thousand and One Nights, Himmich imagines an innocent man’s experience of extraordinary rendition in an American prison. During his captivity, the protagonist is subjected to interrogation and torture by both Arabs and foreigners and yet, against all odds, the author manages to find some hope in an otherwise desperate situation.

• Waciny Laredj, The Andalucian House (Algeria)

The Andalucian House relays the history of a house in Granada through the stories of the people who live there over the centuries. Amongst its many residents are two famous, real-life characters: the first, Dali Mami, a sixteenth-century pirate who fought for the Turks and was responsible, amongst other things, for Miguel de Cervantes’s period of captivity in Algeria and the second Emperor Napoleon III, whose wife Eugenie was born in Granada.

• Razan Naim Al-Maghrabi, Women of Wind (Libyan)

• Ali Al-Muqri, The Handsome Jew (Yemeni)

• Fatin Al-Murr, Common Sins (Lebanon)

• Khairy Shalaby, Istasia (Egyptian)

Istasia is a Coptic widow living in the Egyptian Delta, who becomes a local legend when she dedicates her life to revenging the death her son through prayer. Assistance comes in the unlikely form of the son of the village’s leading Muslim family, notorious for their ruthlessness and cruelty, a lawyer who decides to investigate the case and bring Istasia’s son’s unknown murderers to justice. The moral of the story is that not every Muslim is good or Christian evil and that, no matter the religion, God will answer the prayers of anyone who has been wronged. [Ed. Note: “God will answer the prayers of anyone who has been wronged”??? Huh.]

• Amir Taj Al-Sir, The Hunter of the Chrysalises (or The Head Hunter) (Sudanese)

The Hunter of the Chrysalises is the story of a former secret service agent who, having been forced to retire due to an accident, decide to write a novel about his experiences. He starts to visit a café frequented by intellectuals, only to find himself the subject of police scrutiny.

• Miral Al-Tahawy, Brooklyn Heights (Egyptian)

Brooklyn Heights tells the story of the New York’s Arab immigrants and those who live among them through the eyes of the female narrator. By contrasting her experiences in her chosen home, America, and her homeland Egypt, she reveals the problematic relationship between East and West. It is a story of fundamentalism and tolerance, loss and hope in love. Simple yet full of rich detail, the novel evokes the atmosphere of America over the last decade.

• Ibtisam Ibrahim Teresa, The Eye of the Sun (Syria)

In The Eye of the Sun, protagonist Nasma returns to Syria after years in exile in Sweden and is forced to confront painful memories. Her story reveals a past filled with conflict: from domestic turmoil under a cruel and manipulative father, to political upheaval affecting both her family and the entire population of Aleppo. As well as relating the events that shaped her life up until the present, the novel explores the relationships she has with the men in her life, from her father and brother to her lovers, the man who tortures her and the man to whom she is now married.

Before getting into the “controversy” part of this post, here’s a look at the six finalists. (All descriptions from the FILI newsletter):

• Joel Haahtela, Katoamispiste (Vanishing Point)

Haahtela’s narrative is skillful and engaging, concise and visual. At the center of Katoamispiste is the writer and the written word. Haahtela recounts a writer in crisis, as it were, but through another writer, and thus without self-pity. At the same time, Katoamispiste is both clear and mystical, every sentence measured and mastered to form a solid and memorable whole.

• Markus Nummi, _Karkkipäivä _ (Candy Day)

Markus Nummi tells this story from two points of view, a child’s and an adult’s. The logic of the child’s story begins to take shape for the adult only by means of the world of adults. Nonsense becomes sensible and the child becomes visible. The good Samaritan of Nummi’s story is no different from other people in terms of innate goodness or beauty, he is in fact a rather reluctant helper who accidentally meets a child in difficult circumstances and slowly but surely decides, or is driven, to take responsibility.

• Rikka Pulkkinen, Totta (True)

On the first page of Riikka Pulkkinen’s book is a dramatic sentence: “Everything happened so quickly: examination, biopsy, diagnosis.” After the diagnosis is received, Elsa, a psychologist with a successful career, wants to come home. There she is cared for by her husband, daughter, and granddaughter, who learns by chance the silenced story of the “other woman” in her grandparents’ marriage. The love story of the young Eeva and the married man Martti becomes the main theme of the novel, through which the author plumbs ageless questions of guilt and forgiveness.

• Mikko Rimminen, �����ä��ä����ä (Nose Day)

At first Irma, the main character of �����ä��ä����ä, is a riddle. She seeks out contact with other people by conducting fictitious Gallup-poll surveys from door to door. She doesn’t answer her son’s calls, and her best friend Virtanen, swimming in canned cocktails, is not the building superintendent, although that’s what it says on his door. Rimminen’s cityscape is dim and slushy, its hallways exuding isolation. Into this world the author brings his own over-the-top language and style, an inventiveness unmatched in Finnish literature. Best of all, at story’s end, along with the laughter and tears, the novel’s characters, battered by his world, arouse authentic fellow-feeling in the reader. [This one sounds interesting to me.]

• Alexandra Salmela, _27 Eli kuolema tekee taiteilijan (27, or Death Makes an Artist)

Alexandra Salmela’s main character Ange has a goal: to die at the age of 27, like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and many other artists, and become a legend. When she turns 27, however, she isn’t even an artist yet. Her muddled attempts to write her way to fame take her from Prague to the garden cottage of a Finnish country house, where great expectations blend amusingly with everyday country life. [Also sounds intriguing.]

• Erik Wahlström, Flugtämjaren

In this book, Erik Wahlström reclothes Finnish national poet J. L. Runeberg and his inner circle. Wahlström’s great men and women at the birth of Finnishness are people, not just hooks on which to hang great national ideologies. The book is not a history, it is the author’s interpretation of what kind of man Runeberg was under the cloak of the poet: a long-suffering observer who also enjoys being a celebrity, a family man perpetually enamored of young women, and in the end an old man confined to his bed whose only contact with his beloved nature was an attempt to tame flies. The book is a cornucopia of varied voices, a profound and nimbly elegant melange.

Now stems from the fact that Alexandra Salmela is not actually a Finnish citizen—one of the primary eligibility criteria. According to YLE:

She was born and raised in Bratislava, then part of Czechoslovakia and now capital of Slovakia.

Salmela studied dramaturgy at Bratislava’s theatre academy before deciding to study Finnish. She has studied the language for eight years and lived here for four. She is married to a Finn and lives with her children in Tampere. Salmela’s debut novel, 27 Eli kuolema tekee taiteilijan (27 Or Death Makes an Artist), is set in Prague. Helsingin Sanomat hailed it as the first true Finnish-language adult novel by an immigrant.

In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, the Finnish Book Foundation affirmed that Salmela would be allowed to compete for the prize anyway. The Foundation does not normally check on Finlandia nominees’ citizenship. As it considers Salmela’s inclusion as its own mistake, the author will not be disqualified.

Definitely agree with that the jury is making the right choice, and I recommend reading his breakdown of how complicated the rule writing system is for a prize given in a country that’s populated by Finnish, Swedish, and Saami speakers.