The longlist of 16 books was chosen from 121 eligible entries and are as follows (in alphabetical order);

• The Bottle and the Genie, Mohammad Abu Maatouk
• The Tobacco Guard, Ali Badr
• Hunger, Mohammad Al Bsati,
• The Unfaithful Translator, Fawaz Haddad
• The Man From Andalucia, Salem Hameesh
• Prayer For The Family, Renée Hayek
• Confessions, Rabih Jaber
• Platoon Of Ruin, Abdel Kareem Jouaitly,
• The American Granddaughter, Inaam Kachachi
• The Tumour, Ibrahim Al Koni,
• Black Taste, Black Odour, Ali Al Muqri
• Time Of White Horses, Ibrahim Nasrallah
• The Scents Of Marie-Claire, Al Habib Salmi
• Intensive Care, Izzedin Shukri
• Ma’ Al Sama’, Yehya Yekhlef
• Beelzebub, Yussef Zeydan

The longlist has been selected by a panel of five judges from Europe and the Arab World. As is customary with the prize, the 2009 judges will be announced at the same time as the shortlist, on 10 December 2008.

They’ll announce the winner on March 6th, 2009, the eve of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

It looks like its just getting started, so you finally have a chance to get in on the ground floor of an internet phenomenon.