[2] His Palestinian Christian grandmother was born in Nazareth and lived in Haifa before being displaced to Beirut during the Nakba.

[4] The book, set over 24 hours, tells the story of Rasa, a gay man living in an unnamed Arab country, and trying to carve out a life for himself in the midst of political and religious upheaval.

[4] The novel was excerpted by VICE as well as Kalimat magazine, and received widespread acclaim, with The New Yorker calling it a "vibrant, wrenching début novel".

[5] According to Book Riot, "Haddad maps postcolonial theory, post-revolutionary malaise, and post-outing upheaval onto your standard post-college, what-am-I-doing-with-my-life aimlessness, creating something wonderful and fascinating in the process.

The prize is awarded annually to a writer whose first book explores the LGBT experience, whether in poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction.