Sheikh Zayed Book Award Announces Shortlists for its 19th Edition

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA), organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), has unveiled the shortlists for its 19th edition, featuring outstanding works from around the world in the categories of Literature, Children’s Literature, Translation, Contribution to the Development of Nations, Literary and Art Criticism, Arab Culture in Other Languages, and Editing of Arabic Manuscripts. 

The Award’s Scientific Committee approved the shortlists during a meeting chaired by His Excellency Dr Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the ALC and Secretary-General of the SZBA, and attended by committee members HE Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Executive Director of the ALC, Juergen Boos (Germany), Dr Nadia El Cheikh (Lebanon), and Mustafa Al Slaiman (Jordan). New members of the committee this year include Dr Khaled Al Masri (Jordan/USA), Dr Reem Bassiouney (Egypt), Dr Moneera Al Ghadeer (Saudi Arabia), and Dr Mehmet Hakki Suçin (Turkey), alongside Abdulrahman Al Naqbi, Director of the ALC’s Literary Awards Department.

The shortlist for the "Literature" category includes three works: "The Sphinx" by Ahmed Mourad (Egypt), published by Dar El Shorouk in 2023, "Travels of the City of Clay Trilogy" by Saud Alsanousi (Kuwait), published by Dar Kalimat Publishing & Distribution - Moulaph in 2023; and "Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World" by Hoda Barakat (Lebanon/France), published by Dar Aladab in 2024.

For the "Children’s Literature" category, the shortlisted works are "Maymouna and Her Crazy Ideas" by Shireen Sabanegh (Jordan), published by Hachette Antoine/Nofal in 2023, "The Phantom of Sabiba" by Latifa Labsir (Morocco), published by Markaz Kitab in 2024, and "The Digital Fox" by Hegra Elsawi (Egypt), published by Dar Shan Publishing & Distribution in 2024.

Three works are shortlisted in the "Translation" category: "Tausendundeine Nacht: Das Buch der Liebe" (One Thousand and One Nights: The Book of Love), translated from Arabic to German by Claudia Ott (Germany), published by Verlag C.H. Beck in 2022, "Orosius" by Paulus Orosius, translated from Arabic to English by Marco Di Branco (Italy), published by Pisa University Press in 2024, and "Le démon de la théorie: Littérature et sens commun" (The Demon of Theory: Literature and Common Sense) by Antoine Compagnon, translated from French to Arabic by Hassan Outtaleb (Morocco), published by Dar Alkitab Aljadeed in 2023.

The shortlist for the "Literary and Art Criticism" category consists of "Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arab Heritage" by Dr Said Laouadi (Morocco), published by Afrique Orient in 2023, "Poetry and Prophecy: Abu Tayeb as the Poet-Prophet" by Dr Rita Awad (Palestine), published by the Arab Institute for Research & Publishing in 2024, and "Urbanistic Samarra: A Study of Architecture and Planning of an Abbasid City" by Dr Khaled Alsultany (Iraq), published by Adib Books in 2024.

The three works shortlisted for the contribution to the "Development of Nations" category are "The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women’s Rights" by Prof Dr Mohammed Bechari (UAE), published by Nahdet Misr Publishing in 2024, "The Philosophy of Recognition and Identity Politics: Criticism of the Cultural Approach to Arab-Islamic Culture" by Housamedden Darwish (Syria/Germany), published by Mominoun Without Borders in 2023, and "Cities and Trade in Arab and Islamic Civilization" by Prof Dr Majduddin Khemesh (Jordan), published by Dar Alsayel for Publishing & Distribution in 2024.

In the "Arab Culture in Other Languages" category, the shortlist features "Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries" by Andrew Peacock (UK), published by Brill in 2024, "The Rise of the Arabic Book" by Beatrice Gruendler (Germany), published by Harvard University Press in 2020, and "Geschichte des östlichen zagal: Dialektale arabische Strophendichtung aus dem Osten der arabischen Welt - von den Anfängen bis zum Ende der Mamlukenzeit" (The History of Eastern Zajal: Arabic Poetry in Colloquial Dialects from the Eastern Arab World - From its Beginnings to the End of the Mamluk Era) by Hakan Özkan (Turkey), published by Ergon Verlag in German in 2020.

Lastly, in the "Editing of Arabic Manuscripts" category, the shortlisted works are "News of Women" by Rasheed Alkhayoun (Iraq/UK), published by King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies in 2024, "Interpretation of the Mu’allaqat Poems" by Saleh Aljassar (Saudi Arabia), published by Alkhizana Alandalusia - Al-Khanji Library in Cairo in 2024, and "Alkawakib Alsayaara fi Tartib Alziyara" by Dr Ahmed Gomaa Abdelhamid (Egypt), published by Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale in 2024.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award decided to withhold the Award from the "Young Author" and "Publishing and Technology" categories for this edition. Across the other seven categories, the Award received over 4,000 nominations from 75 countries, including 20 Arab nations. Moreover, this year saw submissions from five countries participating for the first time - Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mali - further underscoring the global reach and prestige of the Award.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is an independent scholarly prize that supports the global literary landscape, publishing industry, and translation activities. It honours creative individuals, intellectuals, and publishers for their literary contributions in the fields of literature, writing, research, translation, and showcasing various cultures, recognising their efforts in that regard that, in turn, serve to connect different cultures and foster international dialogue.