Lebanese Novelist Antoine Douaihy Wins Best Arabic Novel Award in Sharjah

Are you a bookworm looking for your next read? Lebanese novelist and poet Antoine Douaihy just won the Sharjah Book Authority’s 2026 Best Arabic Book award in the novel category for his latest work, Al-Shita’ Al-Kabir (الشتاء الكبير), so you might want to add it to your TBR.

The award was announced during the 45th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair, bringing some well-deserved attention to a writer whose work has largely stayed away from the spotlight. But what is Al-Shita’ Al-Kabir about, and what makes it stand out?

What Is It About?

Published in 2025 by Arab Scientific Publishers and Dar Al Mourad, Al-Shita’ Al-Kabir is a psychological novel that takes readers into the inner world of a 17-year-old boy growing up in the old neighborhood of Moria. Through his memories, the narrator revisits a particularly difficult period of adolescence, shaped by first love, emotional turmoil, death, and the violence unfolding around him.

At the center of the story is his fascination with a girl he calls Hind, whom he watches from a distance. Their relationship never really takes shape, and when she suddenly disappears with her family, his attachment to her becomes a longing for someone who is no longer there.

The novel also explores the troubled relationship between Eastern and Western Moria, where violence, family feuds, and cycles of revenge leave their mark on the community. Rather than simply recounting these events, Douaihy looks at how violence affects people internally, questioning collective responsibility, grief, and the ways we carry memories of the past.

A Story That Took More Than 50 Years to Complete

One of the most interesting details about Al-Shita’ Al-Kabir is that parts of it date back to Douaihy’s teenage years. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the author explained that he had been keeping personal journals since the age of 14. Among his early manuscripts were notes for two unfinished novels, which he eventually revisited and combined into Al-Shita’ Al-Kabir more than half a century later.

The title itself comes from the final chapter he had originally written as a teenager. For Douaihy, the “great winter” refers to a particularly painful period of adolescence, filled with emotional struggles and questions about life.

About Antoine Douaihy

Born in Zgharta, Antoine Douaihy is a Lebanese novelist, poet, and researcher whose writing often explores memory, human psychology, and our relationship with the places we call home. He has built a distinctive literary world around personal experiences and reflections, drawing on decades of private journals and observations.

This isn’t his first literary recognition, either. In 2015, he received the Lebanese Ministry of Culture’s Best Lebanese Novel award for غريقة بحيرة موريه.

With Al-Shita’ Al-Kabir, Douaihy brings together decades-old writing, personal memories, and larger questions about human nature in a novel that has now found recognition across the Arab literary scene. If you’d like to get your hands on a copy, click here to shop from Halabi Bookshop!

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