Organisers of the annual Sheikh Zayed Book Award have announced their next batch of shortlists in three categories — Translation, Arab Culture in Other Languages, and Publishing & Technology.
Named after the UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the award honours writers, innovators and thinkers in literature, the arts, and humanities in Arabic and other languages from across the Arab world. It is organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi, and aims to advance Arabic literature and culture and provide new opportunities for Arabic-language writers.
With a Dh7 million ($1.9m) prize purse, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award is also one of the richest literary awards in the world.
Last week, shortlists in three categories — Literature, Children's Literature and Young Author — were revealed. The list included Emirati author Maisoon Saqer, nominated for Literature, and Saudi writer Manal Salem Al-Qathami, whose name is in the Young Author shortlist.
With shortlists in six categories now released, two more are left to be announced: Literary and Art Criticism, and Contribution to the Development of Nations. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award will also name its Cultural Personality of the Year.
Shortlist for Translation category
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award jury has selected three titles in this category from a longlist of 10, whittled down from 148 entries. They are:
- Ahmed Aladawi’s translation from English into Arabic of The Rise of Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West by George Makdisi. The translated work is titled Nash’at al Insaniyat Einda al Muslimeen wa fi al Gharb al Maseehi’
- Kassem Almekdad’s translation from French into Arabic of Les Vices du savoir: Essai d'ethique intellectuelle by Pascal Engel. The translated work is Ratha’il al Maarifa: Bahth fi al Ahkaam al Akhlaqiya al Fikriya
- Nawal Nasrallah’s translation from Arabic into English of Fadaalat al Ikhwan fi Tayibat al Ta’aam wal Alwan. The translated work is Best of Delectable Foods and Dishes from Al-Andalus and Al-Maghrib: A Cookbook by Thirteenth-Century Andalusi Scholar Ibn Razin Al-Tujibi, 1227–1293
Shortlist for Arab Culture in Other Languages category
Eight titles spanning English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian were picked from 188 nominations. They are:
- Revealed Sciences: The Natural Sciences in Islam in Seventeenth-Century Morocco by Justin K Stearns (USA)
- The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures: Global Commodification, Translation, and the Culture Industry by Muhsin J. Al-Musawi (Iraq/USA)
- Avicenne - Prophetie et gouvernement du monde by Meryem Sebti (France)
- L' Alhambra: a la croisee des histoires by Edhem Eldem (Turkey)
- Die Deutschen und der Orient. Faszination, Verachtung und die Widersprüche der Aufklärung by Joseph Croitoru (Germany)
- El perfume de la existencia: Sufismo y no-dualidad en Ibn Arabi de Murcia by Fernando Mora (Spain)
- Surrealismi Arabi 1938-1970: Il Surrealismo e la letteratura araba in Egitto, Siria e Libano by Arturo Monaco (Italy)
- Etymologic Dictionary of Ancient Arabic (Based on the Material of Selected Texts of Pre-Islamic Poetry) by Anna Belova (Russia)
Shortlist for Publishing & Technology category
This category received 91 entries, out of which three candidates have been named:
- Internationale Jugendbibliothek (International Youth Library) in Munich, Germany
- Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt
- Sindbad — Actes Sud Publishing in France
Winners of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award last year were named in a virtual ceremony ahead of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in May. A date for this year's gala has not yet been set.
More information is available at zayedaward.ae
