The Mutanabbi Prize
Qirtas’s prize for the year’s best work, in two categories: Qirtas and Qalam. First given in April 2028.
How it works
- Qirtas: the year’s best work published in Qirtas by a student Member. Qalam: the year’s best work by a Qalam student, first given in April 2029.
- The editors draw up a shortlist in each category. One outside judge scores each work out of 100, reading blind. Voting members vote online for one work in each category; Qalam students’ names are hidden, and the public never votes.
- Each work’s vote share is scaled so the most-voted work scores 100. The final score is 70% the judge’s and 30% the members’; a tie goes to the judge’s score.
- Work published from April 1 to March 31. Pieces published anonymously or under a pen name are eligible when the Editor-in-Chief knows the writer; a winner chooses whether to be named.