Jordanian author Jalal Barjas, who won the 14th edition of the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his novel "Notebooks of the Bookseller” was honoured by Culture Minister Ali Al Ayed on Tuesday.

During a ceremony, Ayed commended Barjas for "presenting Jordanian literature to the world, enriching the local cultural product, and making it more widely visible".

For his part, the novelist said that he was happy for winning the prestigious award, "especially as it coincided with the nation's celebrations of its 75th independence and the centenary of the Jordanian state".

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Culture Hazza Barari said that Barjas, through his novel, "presented the crisis of the Arab intellectual, with an accurate description of the Jordanian place and Jordanian personality".