Sheikh Zayed Book Award Shortlists Announced

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA), organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, has revealed the shortlists for its 19th edition, featuring authors and institutions from 15 countries. This year's competition drew over 4,000 submissions from 75 countries, including first-time entries from Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mali. The winners will be announced on April 28 in Abu Dhabi.

"We are proud to unveil the shortlist for this year's Sheikh Zayed Book Award, highlighting the exceptional talent, dedication, and creativity of writers and scholars shaping the future of Arab culture," Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Secretary-General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, said.

The Literature category features three established authors. Egyptian writer Ahmed Mourad is shortlisted for The Sphinx, a detective novel set in 1869. Kuwaiti novelist Saud Alsanousi, whose previous work has been translated into 14 languages, earned recognition for his magical realist trilogy Travels of the City of Clay Trilogy. Lebanese-French author Hoda Barakat rounds out the category with Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, exploring a complex mother-daughter relationship.

In Children's Literature, the shortlist includes Jordanian author Shireen Sabanegh for Maymouna and Her Crazy Ideas, Moroccan writer Latifa Labsir for The Phantom of Sabiba, which addresses autism spectrum disorder, and Egyptian author Hegra Alsawi for the young adult novel The Digital Fox.

The Arab Culture in Other Languages category showcases international scholarship, with German academic Beatrice Gründler's The Rise of the Arabic Book, British scholar Andrew Peacock's study of Arabic literary culture in Southeast Asia, and Turkish author Hakan Özkan's analysis of Arabic poetry in colloquial dialects.

This year's Translation shortlist features German translator Claudia Ott for her German translation of tales from the Arabian Nights, Italian translator Marco Di Branco for the English translation of Orosius, and Moroccan translator Hassan Outtaleb for the Arabic translation of Antoine Compagnon's The Demon of Theory: Literature and Common Sense.

The winners will be announced in March, with each receiving 750,000 UAE dirhams ($204,195), while the Cultural Personality of the Year will receive 1,000,000 UAE dirhams ($272,264) at the Award Ceremony taking place at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair on April 28.

The SZBA also supports the publication of Arabic literature in translation through its Translation Grant, which will make all titles on this year's Literature and Children's Literature shortlists eligible for translation funding.