The breadth and reach of Arab culture around the world has been showcased with the announcement of the shortlists for the 19th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award. This year's shortlists feature authors and institutions from 15 different countries. There were over 4,000 submissions to this year's awards from 75 countries. Further highlighting the prestige of the Award 2025 welcomes first time entries from five new nations: Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mali. 

What is the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards?

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is recognised as one of the world's foremost honours that is dedicated to Arab literature and culture. First launched in 2006, for nearly 20 years the Awards has been celebrating writers, scholars, translators, cultural pioneers and institutions. 

The book awards are organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre under the auspices of the Department of Culture of Tourism. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award also supports the publication of Arabic literature in translation globally through the Award's Translation Grant. This grant awards translation funds to internaitonal publishers each year and through it all the titles on this year's Literature and Children's Literature shortlists will be eligible for translation fundin. This funding will facilitate the translation fo the shortlisted titles from Arabic into world languages. 

The winners of the 19th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award will be announced in March. Each winner will recieve 750,000 UAE dirhams, equivalent to £163,408 / $204,195. The winner of the Cultural Personality of the Year will recieve receive 1,000,000 UAE dirhams (£214,161 / $272,264) at the Award ceremony that will take place at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair on the 28th April. 

19th Edition Sheikh Zayed Book Award shortlists

There are ten catagories that make up the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, each reflecting and promoting Arab culture in it's broadest sense from young authors and children's books to research, translation and art criticism.

Arab Culture in Other Languages

Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries by Andrew Peacock (UK)

The Rise of the Arabic Book by Beatrice Gruendler (Germany)

Geschichte des östlichen zagal: Dialektale arabische Strophendichtung aus dem Osten der arabischen Welt – von den Anfängen 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 Özkan (Turkey)

Translation (either to or from Arabic)

‘Tausendundeine Nacht: Das Buch der Liebe’ (One Thousand and One Nights: The Book of Love), translated from Arabic to German by Claudia Ott (Germany)

Orosius by Paulus Orosius, translated from Arabic to English by Marco Di Branco (Italy)

‘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),

Contribution to the Development of Nations

The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women’s Rights by Prof. Dr. Mohammed Bechari (UAE)

The Philosophy of Recognition and Identity Politics: Criticism of the Cultural Approach to Arab-Islamic Culture by Housamedden Darwish (Syria/Germany)

Cities and Trade in Arab and Islamic Civilization by Prof. Dr. Majduddin Khemesh (Jordan)

Children’s Literature (including young adult, or YA, titles)

Maymouna and Her Crazy Ideas by Shireen Sabanegh (Jordan)

The Phantom of Sabiba by Latifa Labsir (Morocco)

The Digital Fox by Hegra Elsawi (Egypt)

Literature (including poetry, short stories, novels, biographies, playscripts, and more)

The Sphinx by Ahmed Mourad (Egypt)

Travels of the City of Clay Trilogy by Saud Alsanousi (Kuwait)

Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Hoda Barakat (Lebanon/France)

Literary and Art Criticism

Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arab Heritage by Dr. Said Laouadi (Morocco), published by Afrique Orient in 2023 

Poetry and Prophecy: Abu Tayeb as the Poet-Prophet by Dr. Rita Awad (Palestine), published by the Arab Institute for Research & Publishing in 2024

Urbanistic Samarra: A Study of Architecture and Planning of an Abbasid City by Dr. Khaled Alsultany (Iraq), published by Adib Books in 2024

Editing of Arabic Manuscripts

News of Women by Rasheed Alkhayoun (Iraq/UK)

Interpretation of the Mu’allaqat Poems by Saleh Aljassar (Saudi Arabia), published

Alkawakib Alsayaara fi Tartib Alziyara by Dr. Ahmed Gomaa Abdelhamid (Egypt),

More information and previous Sheikh Zayed Book Award Winners

You can find out more about the shortlists and winners of last year's 18th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in our news posts:

Shortlist Announced for 18th Edition of Sheikh Zayed Book Award

Winners Announced for 18th Edition of Sheikh Zayed Book Award

Further information about the prize can also be found at www.zayedaward.ae

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