Abu Dhabi: The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA), organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), has unveiled the shortlists for its 19th edition. The announcement features works from around the world in categories such as Literature, Children's Literature, Translation, Contribution to the Development of Nations, Literary and Art Criticism, Arab Culture in Other Languages, and Editing of Arabic Manuscripts.
According to Emirates News Agency, the Award's Scientific Committee approved the shortlists during a meeting chaired by Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the ALC and Secretary-General of the SZBA. The meeting was attended by committee members including Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Executive Director of the ALC; Juergen Boos from Germany; Dr. Nadia El Cheikh from Lebanon; and Mustafa Al-Slaiman from Jordan. New committee members this year include Dr. Khaled Al-Masri from Jordan/USA, Dr. Reem Bassiouney from Egypt, Dr. Moneera Al-Ghadeer from Saudi Arabia, and Dr. Mehmet Hakki Su§in from Turkey, alongside Abdulrahman Al Naqbi, Director of the ALC's Literary Awards Department.
The Literature category shortlist includes The Sphinx by Ahmed Mourad from Egypt, Travels of the City of Clay Trilogy by Saud Alsanousi from Kuwait, and Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Hoda Barakat from Lebanon/France. For Children's Literature, the shortlisted works are Maymouna and Her Crazy Ideas by Shireen Sabanegh from Jordan, The Phantom of Sabiba by Latifa Labsir from Morocco, and The Digital Fox by Hegra Elsawi from Egypt.
In the Translation category, the shortlisted works are Tausendundeine Nacht: Das Buch der Liebe translated from Arabic to German by Claudia Ott from Germany, Orosius translated from Arabic to English by Marco Di Branco from Italy, and Le d©mon de la th©orie translated from French to Arabic by Hassan Outtaleb from Morocco.
The Literary and Art Criticism category shortlist consists of Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arab Heritage by Dr. Said Laouadi from Morocco, Poetry and Prophecy: Abu Tayeb as the Poet-Prophet by Dr. Rita Awad from Palestine, and Urbanistic Samarra: A Study of Architecture and Planning of an Abbasid City by Dr. Khaled Alsultany from Iraq.
For the Contribution to the Development of Nations category, the shortlisted works are The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women's Rights by Prof. Dr. Mohammed Bechari from UAE, The Philosophy of Recognition and Identity Politics by Housamedden Darwish from Syria/Germany, and Cities and Trade in Arab and Islamic Civilization by Prof. Dr. Majduddin Khemesh from Jordan.
In Arab Culture in Other Languages, the shortlist features Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries by Andrew Peacock from the UK, The Rise of the Arabic Book by Beatrice Gruendler from Germany, and The History of Eastern Zajal by Hakan ‚¬Å¡¬€¦¡¬€š¬¦¡¬€š¬…¡¬¦¡¬€š¬…¡¬‚¬¦¡¬‚¬Å¡¬¦¡¬‚¬Å¡¬€¦¡¬¦€š¬…¡¬‚¬¦¡¬‚¬Å¡¬¦€š¬…¡¬‚¬¦€š¬…€œzkan from Turkey.
Finally, in the Editing of Arabic Manuscripts category, the shortlisted works are News of Women by Rasheed Alkhayoun from Iraq/UK, Interpretation of the Mu'allaqat Poems by Saleh Aljassar from Saudi Arabia, and Alkawakib Alsayaara fi Tartib Alziyara by Dr. Ahmed Gomaa Abdelhamid from Egypt.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award decided to withhold the Award from the Young Author and Publishing and Technology categories for this edition. Across the other seven categories, the Award received over 4,000 nominations from 75 countries, including 20 Arab nations. Notably, this year saw submissions from five countries participating for the first time: Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mali, highlighting the global reach and prestige of the award.