The Sheikh Zayed Book Award Fifth Session Awarding Ceremony

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s Fifth Session Awarding Ceremony was held on Wednesday, March 16th 2011 at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of HRH Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan , Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and the presence of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and HE Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, and His Excellency Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and His Excellency Ali Salem Al Kaabi, Director of the Office of the Minister for Presidential Affairs, and HE Zaki Nusseibah, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, and HE Mohammed Mazrouei ,Director General of Abu Dhabi For Culture and heritage. The event was alos attended by HE Salim bin Himmich, the Moroccan Minister of Culture, and HE Yasser Alzenaki Minister of Tourism and Handicraft in Morocco and a number of ambassadors from Arab and foreign countries, as well as senior officials in the literary, cultural, intellectual and mass media fields. The ceremony started with a documentary about the Award, and then Mr. Rashed Al Oraimi, the Award’s Secretary-General, delivered his speech, in which he welcomed the audience, and stressed the expanding role of the Award at its Fifth Annual Ceremony. He spoke of the worldwide recognition the Award is getting as a protégé of Arab writers and literary advancement.Then, His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed presented the awards to this year’s winners. These were; the Chinese Orientalist Xhong Jikun from the People's Republic of China, who won the Cultural Personality of the Year award, in addition to Dr. Abdel Raouf Sinno from Lebanon, who won the Award for Best Contribution to the Development of Nations, and Dr. Mohammad Miftah from Morocco who won the award for Best Book in Literature, and Dr. Mohammad Ziyad Kebbe from Syria, who won the award for Translation. Finally, the Egyptian writer Afaf Tobbala who won the Best Book in Children’s Literature award.