Novelist Inaam Kachachi Was Not Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature

Misbar investigated the circulated claim and found it to contain commotion. Writer Inaam Kachachi told Misbar that the Swedish organization Svenska PEN had indeed selected her along with two other writers to be nominated for the prize, but in no way does that mean that she has made it to the top five finalist nominees for the prize.

Kachachi said that the media had been overly exaggerating the news as though she were only two steps away from getting the prize. She also added that the Nobel Foundation is now receiving hundreds of nominations and that it takes a very long time to read the works of nominees before making a decision.

According to the Nobel Prize website, nominations for 2022 have not been announced. Meanwhile, invitation letters to fill out nomination forms are sent to qualified individuals and organizations by the Nobel Committee in September of the year preceding the awarding of the prize.

Forms are submitted for screening and evaluation in February of the next year. On April 15 to 20 preliminary candidates are selected, the committee "whittles down the list to five people in May." From June until August, submitted works are read and assessed, and in September, the committee members meet and discuss the works.

In October, "Nobel Prize laureates are chosen" only if they received more than half of the votes cast. The Nobel Prize laureates’ names are then announced, and in December, the winners receive their "medal and diploma, and a document confirming the prize amount."

To conclude, a writer of Iraqi origin can't have won a nomination for the award, as finalists and winners are supposed to be announced next year.

In 2021, a writer of Tanzanian origin, Abdulrazak Gurnah, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri