Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award at Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, is organising a virtual ceremony to honour the winners of the 15th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award. The event will be streamed live on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award YouTube channel on Monday 24 May, 2021 at 6pm UAE time (2pm GMT), in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2021.
Each year the Sheikh Zayed Book Award celebrates a group of outstanding writers, researchers, translators, publishers and authors whose works have influenced Arab and international intellectual, literary, and cultural life. This year the award honours eight writers and researchers from Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, in addition to a Lebanese publishing house, in recognition of their distinguished creative and intellectual productions across eight fields.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award Scientific Committee previously announced the prize for the Literature category has been awarded to Egyptian writer, Iman Mersal, for her book Fee Athar Enayat Al Zayyat (In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat), 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 Éditions in 2020. The prize for Contribution to the Development of Nations was awarded to 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. Tahera Qutbuddin from the USA won the Arab Culture in Other Languages award for her book Arabic Oration: Art and Function, published in English by Brill Publishers in 2019.
The Young Author award went to 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.
The award ceremony will be broadcast live on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award YouTube channel: @zayedbookaward
