Sheikh Zayed Book Award Shortlist in Literature and Children's Literature Categories Announced

Marking the first time the annual award publishes its shortlist of the selected candidates, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced today, its shortlist of book titles for two of its categories; “Children’s Literature” and “Literature”. This announcement will be followed over the coming weeks with the rest of the award’s nine categories of which the total monetary prize equates to seven million UAE dirhams. Six books have been short-listed under the two categories, selected by the Award’s Scientific Committee against stringent criteria and rigorous review of the judges panel reports. The “Literature” titles included two novels; “The Tea of the Bride” by Maysaloon Hadi from Iraq (publishing by Dar Shorooq) and “Yahya” by Samiha Ali Khrais from Jordan (publishing by Dar Thaqafa), in addition to one study by Abderrahim Ouhabi from Morocco about “Arabic Reading” (publishing by Modern Book World publishing). Meanwhile, The books under “Children's Literature” [including adolescents books] included “Hanji Banji” by Ahmad Suleiman from Egypt (published by Al-Dar Al-Masriah al-Lubnaniah); “Da'wa al-Haywan dhid al Insan Ind Malik al-Jan” (Animals' Case Against Humans) by Huda al-Shawwa Qaddoumi from Kuwait (published by Dar al-Saqi); and “The Boy Who Saw the Color of Air” by Abdo Wazen from Lebanon (published by Arab Scientific Publishers). The full list of winners is scheduled for announcement during a press conference in February 2012, and the Award’s Presentation Ceremony, celebrating the winning achievements, will be held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions on 29th March next year.