Audience members at the 2022 Sheikh Zayed Book Award ceremony at Louvre Abu Dhabi. Image: SZBA
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Two of Eight Book Categories Longlisted
As our Publishing Perspectives readers know, this is the time of year when the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre in the United Arab Emirates—a program which is under the direction of Dr. Ali Bin Tamim—releases the Sheikh Zayed Book Award‘s longlists over a period of days and weeks.
The first three announced arrived on November 10, in the categories of Literature, Children’s Literature, and Young Authors.
The categories announcing longlists today (November 18) are two of the most distinctive and intellectually bracing in the Zayed canon, one assessing “Literary and Art Criticism” and the other focused on “Contribution to the Development of Nations.”
This follows the award program’s reading panel’s conclusion of its evaluation of 3,151 submissions from 60 nations. Of those, entries, 22 were from Arab countries, with 38 from nations outside the region.
The Zayed award, you’ll recall, is among the richest in the world. The program carries a purse of 750,000 United Arab Emirates dirhams (US$204,209) in each of its eight book categories and is worth a total of 7 million dirhams (US$1.9 million). That includes a special Cultural Personality of the Year Category.
Sheikh Zayed Award 2022 Longlist: Criticism
Image: Sheikh Zayed Book Award
The Literary and Art Criticism category received 286 submissions this year, an increase of 5 percent from the 273 applications received last year.
Twelve titles made it onto the longlist for the ‘Literary and Art Criticism’ category. And in an unusually compact spread of markets for a single country, those 12 submissions arrived just four Arab countries: Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, and Iraq.
- Al-Mu allafat al-Musiqiya al-Aarabiya al-Rahina: Bayn al-Maqamiya wa-al-Tonaliya (Contemporary Arab Music Compositions: Between Maqamat and Tonality) by Fakher Hakima from Tunisia, published by Centre for Arab and Mediterranean Music and Sotumedias Publishing and Distribution in 2021
- Al-Nasq wa-al-Isti mal: Min Lisaniyat al-Lugha ila Lisaniyat al-Tawasul (Linguistic Systems and Usage: Language and Communication) by Mohamed El Hirech from Morocco, published by La Virgule Librairie et Papeterie in 2021
- Hijrat at-Tafkik ila al-Naqd al-Arabi: Bayn al-Kawniya wa-al-Tahayuz, Dirasa fi Anmat al-Talaqi wa-Rihanatuha (The Migration of Deconstruction to Arab Criticism: Universality vs. Partiality, a Study of Reception Patterns and Their Stakes) by Ahmed El Jorti from Morocco, published by Dar Fadaat Publishing and Distribution in 2022
- An-nass wa-al-la-nass fi Daw Maayeer al-Thaqafa al-Markaziya: Malhamat al-Maghazi al-Moriskiya Namuthajan (The Value of Text in Light of the Central Culture Criteria: The Epic of the Moorish Maghazi Model) by Eslam Abouzid from Syria, published by Dar Kunouz Al-Marefa Publishing and Distribution in 2022
- Al-Jasad fi al-Tajriba al-Sufiya (The Body in the Sufi Experience) by Asma Khoualdia from Tunisia, published by Difaf Publishing, El-lkhtilef, and Librairie Dar Al Amane in 2022
- Mara i an-Nisaa: Dirasat fi Kitabat al-That an-Nisaa iya al-Aarabiya (Women Views: Studies on Arab Women Self Writings) by Jalila Al Tritar from Tunisia, published by La Maison Tunisienne Du Livre in 2021
- Naqd an-Naqd wa-an-Nathariyat al-Adabiya wa-al-Naqdiya: Al-Maarifa wa-as-Sulta (Criticism of Criticism and Literary and Critical Theories: Knowledge and Power) by Hamid Lahmidani from Morocco, published by Centre de Recherches Sémiotique et Etudes Culturelles in 2022
- Al-Manhaj at-Tawasuli wa-Aliyyatuh, Musiqa al-Ala: Namuthaj Noobat al-Hijaz al-Mashriqi (The Communication Approach and its Mechanisms, the Music of Instruments: The Model of the Eastern Hijaz Nuba) by Khalid Hilali from Morocco, published by Afrique Orient in 2021
- Jamaliyat al-Ashkal al-Murakaba wa-al-Mutakhayala fi Makhtootat al-Qazwini: Aaja ib al Makhlooqat wa-Ghara ib al-Mawjoodat (Aesthetic of Imagined and Formed Figures at Al-Qazwini Manuscript: The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation) by Saba Qays Al Yasiri from Iraq, published by Dar Al-Rafidain in 2022
- Mu jam Mustalahat al-Funoon al-Basariya (Visual Arts Glossary) by Sami Ben Ameur from Tunisia, published by Dar Almokadima in 2021
- Mutthaf al-Adab: Al-Adab wa-at-Tarikh wa-al-Hawiya (Literature Museum: Literature, History, and Identity) by Chokri Mabkhout from Tunisia, published by Masciliana Editions in 2022
- Suwar al-Wujood fi al-Cinema wa-al-Falsafa (Images of Existence in Cinema and Philosophy) by Mohammed Nouraldin Affaya from Morocco, published by Le Centre Culturel du Livre in 2022
Sheikh Zayed Award 2022 Longlist: Development of Nations
Image: Sheikh Zayed Book Award
The Contribution to the Development of Nations category received 293 entries this year. Submissions for these two categories accounted for 18 percent of all applications received for this year’s Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
Those 11 entries come from nine national markets: Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Mauritania, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Morocco.
- Al-Muwatana: Min Waai al-That ila Waai as-Siyasa (Citizenship: From Self Awareness to Political Awareness) by Salah Nayouf from Syria, published by Dar Alayam Publishing and Distribution in 2022
- Al-Muthaqafoon al-Misriyoon wa-Dawruhum fi Thawarat 1919 (Egyptian Intellectuals and Their Role in the 1919 Revolution) by Amal Saad Zaghloul from Egypt, published by Al Mahrousa Center for Publishing, Press Services and Information in 2022
- Hadatha Thahruha ila al-Jidar: Qira at fi at-Tahawulat al-Thaqafiya fi Mujtama at al-Khaleej wa-al-Jazira al-Aarabiya (Modernism with its Back to the Wall: Readings into Cultural Transformations in Gulf and Arab Societies) by Hassan Madan from Bahrain, published by Dar Al-Rafidain in 2021
- Hurras al-Miyah: Al-Jafaf wa-al-Taghyeer al-Manakhi fi al-Iraq (Water Guards: Drought and Climate Change in Iraq) by Khaled Sulaiman from Canada/Iraq, published by Dar Al-Mada for Media, Culture and Arts in 2020
- Ad-Deen wa-al-Karama al-Insaniya (Religion and Human Dignity) by Abdul Jabbar Al Rifaei from Iraq, published by Dar Al-Rafidain and Center of Philosophy of Religion Studies in 2022
- Az-Zaman wa-al-Uloohiya: Bayn al-Falsafa al-Islamiya wa Fann al-Khatt al-Aarabi) (Time and Divinity Between Islamic Philosophy and Arabic Calligraphy) by Ridha Jawadi from Tunisia, published by Dar Al-Kalam Publishing and Distribution in 2020
- Al-Malik Faisal al-Awwal 1883-1933: Adwaruh Al-Taarikhia wa Mashrueatuh Al-Nahdawia (King Faisal I, 1883-1933: His Historical Roles and Renaissance Projects) by Sayyar Al Jamil from Canada/Iraq, published by Centre for Arab Unity Studies in 2021
- Al-Fikr al-Tarjami: Haythiyat al-Mi na al-Ha ir bayn al-Ana wa-al-Akhar (Translational Thought: Viewpoints Regarding the Confused Meaning between the Self and the Other) by Aissani Belkacem from Algeria, published by Difaf Publishing and El-lkhtilef Publishing in 2022
- Ghanimat Harb: At-Tobb al-Hadith fi al-Maghrib 1888-1940 (A Prize of War: Modern Medicine in Morocco 1888-1940) by Lahcen Laassibi from Morocco, published by Le Centre Culturel du Livre in 2022
- Al-Lugha al-Aarabiya fi at-Tarikh al-Insani (Arabic Language in Human History) by Mohamed Mohamed Ali from Mauritania, published by Arabic Language Education Centre for Gulf States in 2021
- Mawt al-Metaphysiqia bayn al-Lahoot wa-al-Falsafa (The Death of Metaphysics Between Theology and Philosophy) by Najib George Awad from USA and Lebanon, published by Mominoun Without Borders Publishing and Distribution in 2022
The remaining three categories’ longlists are expected from Abu Dhabi soon.
This is Publishing Perspectives’ 196th awards-related report in the 209 publication days since our 2022 operations began on January 3.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award is here, more on Arabic literature is here, and more on translation is here. More from us on publishing and book awards in the international industry is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
More on the still-ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.