Spotlight on Sheikh Zayed Book Award Winners of Publishing and Technology Awards

The publishing industry has been one of the important focal points of the Sheikh Zayed book award efforts since its inception to support publishers who have helped to enrich the social, cultural and intellectual life of the community and the World. In 2008,  Emirates Centre for Scientific Research and Studies (ECSSR)  won the Publishing Award for its unique selection of original and translated research, maintaining the intellectual property rights of their authors and serving culture and knowledge through its wide array of publications and distribution networks. The Center promotes interaction with experts through publishing books and research papers and organizing conferences and symposia. At the time, the Center published more than 570 titles which include books, both original and translated, an Arabic language series called “Strategic Studies,” an English language series called “The Emirates Occasional Papers,” a series of translated studies called “International Studies,” and a forth series in both Arabic and in English called the “Emirates Lectures Series,” based on the proceedings of lectures organized by the Center. In 2009, "Al-Dar Al- Masriah Al-Lubnaniah" met successfully all the conditions related to winning in terms of quantity and quality of production, distribution of books along with maintaining the intellectual property rights of authors. "Al-Dar Al- Masriah Al-Lubnaniah" enjoys a wide variety of publications, an impressive pool of authors (exceeding 750 members), more than 100 translators in the past few years, and a widely infamous distribution network around the world. In 2010, The efforts of “Nahdet Misr” in promoting the Arab culture that extends over more than six decades in printing, publishing and distribution. The veteran house’s portfolio includes a variety of topics and genres, counting general knowledge and literary fiction, children’s books, books for children with special needs, and educational textbooks. “Nahdet Misr” is also the exclusive agent of Cambridge Universit named winner for its rich history, strong international focus and promotion of Arab culture. Brill Publishing House (of Netherlands) won the 2012 Award. The house has generous contribution in the publication and distribution of literary and cultural Arabic and Islamic manuscripts, by translating them into numerous European languages. And it is perhaps Brill’s unique collection of Arabic and Islamic original material and oriental manuscripts that has given it the advantage over the rest of nominees. Brill was founded in 1683, over 500 books are published per year in both print and electronic format, and caters for an extensive variety of topics focusing on humanities and social sciences, International Law and selected areas in the Sciences. Last year, in 2013 the National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature from Kuwait won the Publishing Award. The Council was founded in 1973, one of the council's mandates is working on the development of intellectual production and enrichment not only at the country's level but throughout the Arab region. The council produces a range of all-time publications, periodicals and books, including the World Series of Knowledge (a monthly book which went to publication in 1978 and has more than 400 issues to date); the World Series of Theatre (first published in 1969, and included a large number of internationally renowned theatrical scripts which drew the attention of many creative writers and novelists throughout the Arab World as it publicly introduced more than 365 scripts to date). The Magazine of World Thought (a quarterly magazine which has been published since 1970 to date with close to 42 volumes); the World Series of Creativity (which introduce the most famous theatrical scripts of World Stages, with more than 393 scripts to date); the Art Journal (a monthly production about the audio visual art, which went to publication in 2001, and has a stock of more than 138 issues to date); and the Magazine of World Culture (a publication of the National Council on a variety of cultural topics. It has an approximate 169 issues to date). The council also arranges several cultural activities annually such as: Al-Qurain Festival, an annual book fair, a cultural festival for children, and a music festival. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is accepting nominations for its Eighth Edition (2013-2014) until October 15th 2013. 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 (Russian, Italian and English), Publishing and Technology, Cultural Personality of the Year (Open to individuals and organizations).