Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2025 shortlists unveiled

Sheikh Zayed Book Award organisers have announced shortlists for this year's competition in categories such as literature, children's literature, and Arab culture in other languages. However, two award categories – young author, and publishing and technology – are withheld from this year’s prize. The shortlisted works have been selected from more than 4,000 submissions across 75 countries, including 20 Arabic nations. There were entries from Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago and Mali for the first time. Organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre , part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award is one of the world's most lucrative literary prizes, with a total purse of Dh7.75 million ($2.1 million). The award ceremony will take place during the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, which runs from April 26 to May 5. Here are the shortlisted titles and their respective categories. The Sphinx by Ahmed Mourad, Egypt (Dar El Shorouk, 2023) Travels of the City of Clay Trilogy by Saud Alsanousi, Kuwait (Dar Kalimat Publishing & Distribution – Moulaph, 2023) Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Hoda Barakat, Lebanon/France (Dar Aladab, 2024). Maymouna and Her Crazy Ideas by Shireen Sabanegh, Jordan (Hachette Antoine/Nofal, 2023) The Phantom of Sabiba by Latifa Labsir, Morocco (Markaz Kitab, 2024) The Digital Fox by Hegra Elsawi, Egypt (Dar Shan Publishing & Distribution, 2024) Tausendundeine Nacht: Das Buch der Liebe (One Thousand and One Nights: The Book of Love) , translated from Arabic to German by Claudia Ott, Germany (Verlag CH Beck, 2022) Orosius by Paulus Orosius, translated from Arabic to English by Marco Di Branco, Italy (Pisa University Press, 2024) Le démon de la théorie: Littérature et sens commun (The Demon of Theory: Literature and Common Sense) by Antoine Compagnon, translated from French to Arabic by Hassan Outtaleb, Morocco (Dar Alkitab Aljadeed, 2023) Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arab Heritage by Said Laouadi, Morocco (Afrique Orient, 2023) Poetry and Prophecy: Abu Tayeb as the Poet-Prophet by Rita Awad, Palestine (Arab Institute for Research & Publishing, 2024) Urbanistic Samarra: A Study of Architecture and Planning of an Abbasid City by Khaled Alsultany, Iraq (Adib Books, 2024) The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women’s Rights by Mohammed Bechari, UAE (Nahdet Misr Publishing, 2024) The Philosophy of Recognition and Identity Politics: Criticism of the Cultural Approach to Arab-Islamic Culture by Housamedden Darwish, Syria/Germany (Mominoun Without Borders, 2023) Cities and Trade in Arab and Islamic Civilisation by Majduddin Khemesh, Jordan (Dar Alsayel for Publishing & Distribution, 2024) Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries by Andrew Peacock, UK (Brill, 2024). Geschichte des ostlichen zagal: Dialektale arabische Strophendichtung aus dem Osten der arabischen Welt – von den Anfangen bis zum Ende der Mamlukenzeit (The History of Eastern Zajal: Arabic Poetry in Colloquial Dialects from the Eastern Arab World – From its Beginnings to the End of the Mamluk Era) by Hakan Ozkan, Turkey (Ergon Verlag, 2020) The Rise of the Arabic Book by Beatrice Gruendler, Germany (Harvard University Press, 2020) News of Women by Rasheed Alkhayoun, Iraq/UK (King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, 2024) Interpretation of the Mu’allaqat Poems by Saleh Aljassar, Saudi Arabia (Alkhizana Alandalusia – Al-Khanji Library, Cairo, 2024) Alkawakib Alsayaara fi Tartib Alziyara by Dr. Ahmed Gomaa Abdelhamid, Egypt (Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2024)

Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2025 shortlists unveiled

This year’s programme received more than 4,000 submissions from 75 countries