Winners of 15th Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced
ABU DHABI: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award has announced the winners of its 15th edition, the largest in its history in terms of submissions.
The award received 2,349 nominations in 2020/2021, an increase of 23 per cent compared to the previous edition.
The list of prize winners, organised by the Abu Dhabi Centre for the Arabic Language of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, included seven authors and researchers from Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the US, in addition to a Lebanese publishing house.
Egyptian writer, Iman Mersal, won the Literature category for her book Fee Athar Enayat Al Zayyat (In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-zayyat) that was published in 2019 by Al Kotob Khan Library, while Tunisian author, Mizouni Bannani, won the Children’s Literature award for his book Rehlat Fannan (An Artist’s Journey), published by Dar Al Mua’nasa Publishing in 2020. The Translation award went to Impostures by Al-hariri, translated from Arabic to English by Michael Cooperson from the USA, and published by Library of Arabic Literature in 2020.
The Literary and Art Criticism award went to Tunisian researcher, Khelil Gouia, for his book Masar Al Tahdeeth fe Al Fonoon Al Tashkelyah, men Al Orsomah ella Al Lawha (The Path of Modernisation in the Visual Arts, From Drawing to Painting), published by Med Ali Editions in 2020. The Contribution to the Development of Nations was awarded to Dr. Saeed El-masry from Egypt, for his book Turath Al Iste’ela’a bayn Al Folklor wa Al Majal Al Deeny (Legacy of Supremacy between Folklore and Religion), published by Batana Publishing & Distribution in 2019, and Tahera Qutbuddin from the USA won the Arab Culture in Other Languages award for her book Arabic Oration: Art and Function, published by Brill Publishers in 2019.
The Young Author category was won by Dr. Asma Muqbil Awad Alahmadi from Saudi Arabia for the study Eshkalyat Al Thaat Al Saredah Fee Al Rwayah Al Nesaayah Al Saudiah (The Problems of the Narrated Self in the Saudi Feminist Novel (1999 - 2012) (Critical Study), published by Arab Scientific Publishers Inc. in 2020. Dar Al Jadeed from Lebanon won the Publishing and Technology award, in recognition of its role in shedding light on long-forgotten topics in Arab publishing, as well as its contributions to the Arabic library with science books and linguistic and intellectual studies.