“Arab Culture in Non Arabic Languages”promoted in Italy

Marking its very first interaction with the Italian cultural community, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award held a press conference alongside a poetry reciting night at Cremona Cultural Festival, North of Italy on 1st of June 2013. Emirati Poets Khuloud Al Mu’alla, Nujoom Al Ghanem and Ali Al Sha’aaliwere the stars of the night with a selection of their poetic verses that unveiled the literary heritage of the Emirates. The event witnessed massive attendance counting more than a thousand with HE NouraJum’a, UAE Consulate in Italy, and Mr. Paulo Gualandris, Head of the Cremona Festival on top of the list, with Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Secretary General of Sheikh Zayed Book Award and Abdullah Majid, Award General Manager and an assembly of the Italian cultural community elites. “Our contribution to Cremona Cultural Festival gains paramount significance as it furnished a unique opportunity to introduce the Italian language in our category “Arab Culture in non-Arabic languages”, Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, the Award’s Secretary General, commented. “The new category proved to be a success when first introduced in the Award’s seventh session, attracting significant nominations from academics and cultural researchers around the world,”  he added. Bin Tamim elaborated that the category is now accepting nominations in Italian and Russian in addition to English for the Award’s eighth session. “Arab Culture in non-Arabic languages”honours all written works in languages other than Arabic, about the Arabic civilization and culture, in the fields of humanities, fine arts, and literature throughout its historical eras. From his side, Mr. Paulo Gualandris, President of Cremona Festival, expressed his delight to host the premium Emirati Night: “Sheikh Zayed Book Award participation with some of the most talented Emirati poets was definitely a bright spot in this year’s instalment of the Fest." The poetry reciting was accompanied by a mix of oriental tunes played by the musical duo Marwan Abado and Lemsh Lehman. Sheikh Zayed Book Award was established in memoryof Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan who served as the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE for more than 30 years. Since its launch in 2007, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award has succeeded in fostering greater scholarship and creativity by recognising and rewarding significant cultural achievements to Arabic culture, actively changing the Arab literary landscape. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is an independent cultural award established under the patronage and support of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) and is now celebrating its 7th year.This year has seen 1262 nominations across all 9 categories, doubling over last session’s record. Since 2007 the Award witnessed more than 42 winners representing literary and cultural figures or institutions from around the World. China, UK, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, South Korea are some of the winners' country representatives. Categories of the award include Contribution to the Development of Nations, Children’s Literature [including adolescents books],  Young Author, Translation,  Literature, Literary and Art Criticism,  Arab Culture in non-Arabic Language, Publishing and Technology, Cultural Personality of the Year (Open to individuals and organizations)