Sheikh Zayed Book Award reviews nominations of its 7th cycle

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced today the conclusion of the first reading panel assembly to evaluate the accepted nominations for its seventh session of 2012/2013. The panel joins veteran judges, including Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Award’s Secretary General and head of panel, Dr. Khalil Al Sheikh, Dr. ali al Ka’bi, Dr. Najwa Al Hosani, and Mr. Abdullah Majid, Award’s General Manager. The experts assessed more than 800 works that made the cut to date in the Award’s diverse categories, while a series of other meetings will be held for the reading panel following closure of nominations phase, scheduled towards end of this September. Commenting on the commencement of the reading committee work, Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s Secretary General said: “We have witnessed a substantial flow of nominations during this session across all nine categories of the Award, driven by the amendments we introduced earlier in terms of redefining and restructuring a few categories”. Bin Tamim explained that the introduction of the new category “Arabic Culture in Other Languages” has been well-received by western cultural entities and literary figures, which is evident in the number of nominations received in this category. “We have devised this new category to honor all written works in non-Arab languages about the Arabic civilization and culture. The Award has been accepting literary works in English, German and Chinese for the seventh session.” Bin Tamim continued. Meanwhile, Dr. Khalil Al Sheikh, Member of the Award’s Scientific Committee and reading panelist said: “The Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s assessment system follows a stringent, quantifiable scoring criterion to ensure choosing the most creative works that would enrich the Arabic Cultural Scene.” From his side, Mr. Abdullah Majid, Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s General Manager, confirmed that the Award’s executive office is logistically and technically ready for all the session’s proceedings until nominations closure. With the conclusion of the reading panel’s work, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s judging panels will commence assessment and evaluation of filtered works across all categories. Each category has three judges specialized in the same field. The judges independently evaluate the nominations and submit their reports against a stringent, quantifiable scoring criterion to ensure the decision is truly reflective of their independent and expert views. The assessment results are then calculated for each category and collectively evaluated by the Scientific Committee for the Award. Consequently, the short-listed winners will be subject to the approval of the Award’s Board of Trustees, scheduled for announcement in March 2012. The Award’s Grand Ceremony, celebrating the winning achievements, will be held parallel to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair during April next year.