Noor Naga has won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize for her book If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English.
Naga’s novel, published in April by Graywolf, follows an Egyptian American woman who moves from the U.S. to Cairo, and meets an Egyptian photographer with a compelling story and a violent streak. It won the Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize.
In a starred review, a Kirkus critic wrote of the book, “In a word: brilliant.”
In an interview with Electric Literature, Naga, who was born in the U.S. and raised in Dubai, said she wondered how her novel might have been different had it been written and published in Arabic.
“A lot of my writing of this novel was influenced by my hyper-awareness of my own position,” Naga said. “Part of the reason I was able to publish this book is because I tick certain boxes that Egyptians born and raised in Egypt maybe don’t tick, even if they’re writing in English. I have access and currency. So this novel was my way of thinking about that and incriminating myself almost.”
This year’s First Novel Prize was judged by authors Matt Bell, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Megha Majumdar, Rebecca Makkai, and Chigozie Obioma. The award dates back to 2006, and past winners have included Viet Thanh Nguyen for The Sympathizer, Tommy Orange for There There, and Kirstin Valdez Quade for The Five Wounds.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
