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The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award presented yearly to writers, intellectuals, publishers whose writings and scholarly publications contributed to
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
cultural, literary and social life. The award has been described as “the Arab World’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize”. The first award was in 2007. The total value of the prizes is making it one of the richest literary awards in the world. The award is named in memory of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the
founding father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...
of the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
.


History

Beginning with 2013 awards, a new category was added called "Arabic Culture in Other Languages", "to honor best written works in Chinese, German and English languages on the subject of the Arabic civilization and culture including novels, short stories, poems, biographies, history and arts." In addition a number of other categories were merged, created or redefined. In 2018, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award launched a translation grant, to encourage the translation of Arabic literature into other languages. The grant is open year-round to publishers and translators around the world to publish shortlisted or award-winning literary works from the Award’s Literature and Young Author prize categories. In 2021, German philosopher
Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas ( , ; ; born 18 June 1929) is a German philosopher and social theorist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere. Associated with the Frankfurt S ...
declined his Zayed Book Award, citing the UAE's political system (a repressive non-democracy). A media debate ensued with some German commentators arguing that he should not have renounced the award.


Award categories

the Award presents a range of annual prizes in different categories such as ‘Literature’, ‘Translation’, ‘Arabic Culture in Other Languages’, and ‘Cultural Personality of the Year’. The "Cultural Person of the Year" is the category which honours a prominent Arab or international figure (or organisation) who has contributed to the advancement of Arabic culture. It bestows an award of one million Dirhams (around $300,000) while the other categories receive around $200,000 each. * Sheikh Zayed Award for Arts * Sheikh Zayed Award for Best Technology in the Cultural Field * Sheikh Zayed Award for Children's Literature * Sheikh Zayed Award for Cultural Personality of the Year * Sheikh Zayed Award for Development and State Building * Sheikh Zayed Award for Literature * Sheikh Zayed Award for Manuscript Editing * Sheikh Zayed Award for Publishing and Distribution * Sheikh Zayed Award for Translation * Sheikh Zayed Award for Young Author


Winners

2007 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Denys Johnson-Davies *Literature: Wacini Laredj, ''The Prince and the Passage of the Iron Doors'' *Fine arts: Tharwat Ukhasha, ''The Indian Art'' *Translation: Georges Zinaty, ''Althat a'inha Ka'khr'' (translated from French to Arabic) *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Bashir Mohamed Al-Khadra, ''The Prophetic – Caliphate Pattern in the Arab Political Leadership and Democracy'' *Young author: Mahmoud Zein Al-Abedeen, ''Architecture of the Ottoman Mosques'' *Children's literature: Mohammed Ali Ahmad, ''A Journey on Paper'' 2008 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Mohamed Benaissa *Literature: Ibrahim al Kouni, ''Call of What Was Far'' *Fine arts: Rifat Chadirji, ''Dialectics and Causality of Architecture'' *Translation: Faiz Assayagh, ''Sociology'' *Young author: Mohamed Saadi, ''The Future of International Relations'' *Publishing and Distribution: Emirates Centre for Scientific Research and Studies *Children's literature: Huda Al-Shawwa Qadoumi, ''The Journey of Birds: To Qaf Mountain'' (about Mount Qaf) 2009 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Pedro Martinez Montavez *Literature: Jamal Al Ghitani, ''Ren'' *Fine arts: Maher Rady, ''Thought of Light'' *Translation: Sa'ad Abdulaziz Maslouh, ''Translation Theory: Contemporary Trends'' (translation of Edwin Gentzler's ''Contemporary Translation Theories'') *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Baqer Salman Al Najjar, ''The Strenuous Democracy in the Arabian Gulf'' *Young author: Youcef Oghlici, ''The Intricacy of Terminology in the New Arab Discourse'' *Publishing and Distribution: Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah 2010 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi *Best Contribution to the Development of the Country: Ammar AM Hasan, ''The Political Establishment of Sufism in Egypt'' *Young author: Mohammad Al Mallakh, ''Time in Arabic Language: Its Linguistic Structure and Significance'' *Translation: Albert Habib Mutlaq, ''The Animal Encyclopedia'' *Fine arts: Iyad Al Husseini, ''The Art of Design'' *Children's literature: Qais Sedki, '' Gold Ring''Neild, Barry.
Japanese manga heroes join fight to save Arabic culture
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. September 10, 2010. Retrieved on September 10, 2010.
*Publishing and Distribution: Nahdet Misr Publishing and Printing *Literature: Hafnaoui Baali, ''Comparative Cultural Criticism- an Introduction'' (Note: Award withdrawn due to "research methodologies and ethics employed by the author" i.e. plagiarism) 2011 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Xhong Jikun *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Abdul Raouf Sinno, ''Harb Lubnan 1975–1990'' *Literature: Mohammad Miftah, ''Mafaheem Muwasa'a Li Nazaryah Shi'ryah'' *Translation: Mohammad Ziyad Kibbeh, ''Al Tharwah wa lqtisad Al Ma'rifah'' (trans from ''Revolutionary Wealth'' by Alvin and Heidi Toffler) *Children's literature:
Affaf Tobbala Affaf Tobbala (born July 12, 1941) is an Egyptian television documentary director and producer and an author, primarily of children's literature. Tobbala has been nominated for and received a number of literary awards in Egypt and abroad. Her 2006 ...
, ''Al Bayt Wal Nakhlah'' 2012 *Cultural Personality of the Year:
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
*Fine Arts: Shaker Abdel-Hamid, ''Art and Eccentrics'' *Translation: *Young author: Layla Al Obaidi, ''Al Fakh in Islam'' ("Humor in Islam") *Publishing and Distribution:
Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and Bibliographic database, databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South ...
*Best Technology in the Field of Culture: Paju Bookcity *Children's Literature: Abdo Wazen, ''The Boy Who Saw the Color of Air'' 2013 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Ahmed el-Tayeb (Egypt) *Arab Culture in Non-Arabic Languages:
Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publication ...
(UK), ''Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights'' *Translation: Fathi Meskini (Tunisia), ''
Being and Time ''Being and Time'' () is the 1927 ''magnum opus'' of German philosopher Martin Heidegger and a key document of existentialism. ''Being and Time'' had a notable impact on subsequent philosophy, literary theory and many other fields. Though controv ...
'' (from the German by
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...
) *Literary and Art Criticism: Abdullah Ibrahim (Iraq), ''Al Takhayol Al Tarikhi'' (Historic Visualization) *Publishing and Cultural Technologies: National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature, Kuwait *Best Contribution to the Development of the Country: Elizabeth Kassab (Lebanon), ''Contemporary Arab Thought'' (Arabic: ''Al Fikr al 'arabi al Mu'aser'') *Young Author: Adil Hadjami (Morocco), ''Falsafat Jeel Deleuze'' ("Deleuze philosophy on Existentialism and Difference") 2014 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Saeed Abdullah Al Soyan for his study "The Epic of Human Evolution" *Children's Literature: Jawdat Fakhr Eldine for his book "Thirty Poems for Children" *Young Author: Rami Abu Shihab for his book "Permanence and Deception: Post-Colonial Discourse in the Contemporary Arab Criticism" *Translation: Mohammed Al Tahir Al Mansouri (Tunisia) for translating the book "Housing the Stranger in the Mediterranean World" *Literature: Abdel Rasheed Mahmoudi (Egypt) for his novel "After Coffee" *Literary and Art Criticism: (no award) *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Mario Liverani (Italy) for his book "Imagining Babylon" *Publishing and Technology: Arab Foundation "
House of Wisdom The House of Wisdom ( ), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, was believed to be a major Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid-era public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad. In popular reference, it acted as one of the world's largest publ ...
", from Tunisia 2015 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab ...
*Contribution to the Development of Nations: (no award) *Children's Literature: (no award) *Young Author: (no award) *Translation: Hanawa Haruo (Japan) for translating
Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through wo ...
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into Arabic *Literature: Osama Alaysa (Palestine) for his novel ''Majaneen bait lahem'' ("The fools of Bethlehem") *Literary and Art Criticism: (no award) *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Sugita Hideaki (Japan) for ''Arabian-Naito to Nihon-Jin'' ("The Arabian Nights and the Japanese") *Publishing and Technology: Arab Scientific Publishers Inc. (Lebanon) 2016 *Cultural Personality of the Year:
Amin Maalouf Amin Maalouf (; ; born 25 February 1949) is a Lebanese people in France, Lebanese-born French"A ...
*Children's Literature: (no award) *Young Author: (no award) *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi (UAE) for ''Al-Sarab'' (The Mirage) *Translation: Keyan Yahya (Iraq) for translation of ''The Meaning of Meaning'' by Ogden and Richards *Literature: Ibrahim Abdelmeguid (Egypt) for ''Ma Wara’a al-Kitaba'' (Beyond Writing) *Literary and Art Criticism: Said Yaktine for ''Al-Fikr al-Adabi al-‘Arabi'' (Arabic Literary Thought) *Arab Culture in Other Languages: Roshdi Rashed (Egypt) for ''Angles et Grandeur'' *Publishing and Technology: Dar Al-Saqi publishers of London 2017 *Cultural Personality of the Year: Abdallah Laroui *Children's Literature: Lateefa Buti (Kuwait) for ''Bila qubba’a'' (Hatless) *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Mohammad Chahrour (Syria) for ''Al Islam wal Insan'' (Islam and the Human Being) *Translation: Ziad Bou Akl (Lebanon/France) for translation from Arabic to French of ''Ibn Rushd, Al-Darûrî fî usûl al-fiqh (Averroès: Le Philosophe Et La Loi)'' *Literature: Abbas Beydoun (Lebanon) for ''Khareef al Bara’a'' (The Autumn of Innocence) *Literary and Art Criticism: Said Al Ghanimi (Iraq/Australia) for ''Fā‘iliyyat al-Khayāl al-Adabī'' (The Validity of Literary Fiction) *Arab Culture in Other Languages: David Wirmer for ''Vom Denken der Natur zur Natur des Denkens'' *Publishing and Technology: Kalimat Group, Sharjah, UAE 2018 *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Dag Nikolaus Hasse *Literature: Khalil Sweileh *Children's Literature: Hessa Al Muhairi *Literary and Art Criticism: Mohamed Mechbal *Translation: Naji Al 'Awnali *Publishing and Technology: Dar Al Tanweer *Cultural Personality of the Year: Arab World Institute *Young Author: Ahmad Al Qarmalawy 2019 *Publishing and Technology: The Arabic Center for Geographic Literature "Irtiyad al-Afaq" *Cultural Personality of the Year: Jaroslav Stetkevych & Suzanne Stetkevych *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Philip Kennedy *Children's Literature: Hussain Al Mutawaa *Literary and Art Criticism: Charbel Dagher *Literature: Bensalem Himmich *Young Author: Abderrazak Belagrouz 2020 *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Richard van Leeuwen *Children's Literature: Ibtisam Barakat *Cultural Personality of the Year: Salma Khadra Jayyusi *Literature: Moncef Ouahibi *Publishing and Technology: '' Banipal'' *Translation: Mohamed Ait Mihoub *Young Author: Hayder Qasim 2021 *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Tahera Qutbuddin *Children's Literature: Mizouni Bannani *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Saeed El-Masry *Literary and Art Criticism: Khelil Gouia *Literature: Iman Mersal *Publishing and Technology: Dar Al Jadeed *Translation: Michael Cooperson *Young Author: Asma bint Muqbel bin Awad Al-Ahmadi 2022 *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Muhsin Al-Musawi *Children's Literature: Maria Dadouch *Literary and Art Criticism: Mohamed Aldahi *Literature: Maysoon Saqer *Publishing and Technology:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin, 'Library of Alexandria'; , ) (BA) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria, once one of the larg ...
*Translation: Ahmed Aladawi *Young Author: Mohamed Al-Maztouri 2023 *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Mathieu Tillier *Literary and Art Criticism: Jalila bint Mohammed bin al-Mahjoub Tritar *Literature: Ali Jaafar Al Allaq *Publishing and Technology: Dar ElAin Publishing *Translation: Ali Al Saadi *Young Author: Said Khatibi 2024 *Arabic Culture in Other Languages: Frank Griffel *Contribution to the Development of Nations: Khalifa Alromaithi *Editing of Arabic Manuscripts: Mustafa Said *Literature: Reem Bassiouney *Publishing and Technology: Bayt Elhekma for Creative Industries *Translation: Ahmed Somai *Young Author: Houssem Eddine Chachia 2025 * Cultural Personality of the Year:
Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for hi ...
* Literature: Hoda Barakat, ''Hind, or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World'' (Dar al Adab, 2024) * Children's Literature: Latifa Labsir, ''The Phantom of Sabiba'' (Markaz Kitab, 2024) * Arab Culture in Other Languages: Andrew Peacock, ''Arab Literature in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries'' (Brill, 2024) * Translation: Marco di Branco, ''Orosius'' (Pisa University Press, 2024) * Editing of Arabic Manuscripts: Rasheed Alkhayoun, ''News of Women'' (King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, 2024) * Contribution to the Development of Nations: Mohamed Bashari, ''The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women's Rights'' (Nahdet Misr Publishing, 2024) * Literary and Art Criticism: Said Laouadi, ''Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arabic Heritage'' (Afrique Orient, 2023)


References


External links

*{{Official website, http://www.zayedaward.ae/ Awards established in 2007 Fiction awards Non-fiction literary awards Arabic literary awards Emirati literary awards