International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) Longlist 2021.

Hole to Heaven takes us to the village of Majihira, a place filled with legends and folklore about death and daily life events like marriage and divorce. Each character has their own story, beginning with Taima and after her, Eissa, Farj, Ghaith and others. The final story is that of Fatoum, who departs the village after everyone in it has died, leaving behind only a palm tree which bears her name as a memorial of past times.
Abdulla Al Ayaf is a Saudi Arabian engineer and writer, born in Dammam, Saudi Arabia in 1976. He graduated from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in 2001 and has worked as a writer and film director, winning local and regional prizes for his films. He has been a jury member and chair of judging panels for a number of film festivals. Since 2007, he has published hundreds of articles about cinema, media, literature and culture in local, Arab and foreign newspapers and magazines.