Abu Dhabi: Under the patronage of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) announced the winners and Cultural Personality of the Year for the 19th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA). The announcement followed a meeting of the SZBA Board of Trustees, which discussed the final results of the evaluation process led by the judging panels and the award's Scientific Committee, based on the highest literary and cultural standards.
According to Emirates News Agency, this year's winners hail from seven countries around the world, including the UK, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco, and the UAE. The selection of the winners was based on objective, scientific criteria and rigorous governance upheld by the award.
The meeting was headed by Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the SZBA Board of Trustees, and attended by Board members Dr. Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Cultural Advisor to H.H. the UAE President; Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi); Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, Undersecretary of the DCT Abu Dhabi; Abdullah Majid Al Ali, Director-General of the National Archives and Library; Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the ALC and Secretary-General of the SZBA; and Abdulrahman Al Naqbi, Director of the ALC's Literary Awards Department.
Al Mubarak remarked that the Sheikh Zayed Book Award has transcended beyond a simple act of recognition to become a strategic national initiative promoting the production of knowledge and a catalyst for a cultural and scientific movement. This initiative reflects the UAE's commitment to culture and knowledge as cornerstones of sustainable development and human prosperity.
Dr. Bin Tamim congratulated the winners of the 19th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for their significant contributions to the Arab and international cultural scene. He highlighted that the winners' works were inspiring and tackled distinguished topics, enriching the human condition and shedding light on historical subjects.
He also congratulated Haruki Murakami, the Cultural Personality of the Year, noting the Japanese novelist's merit for his literary work characterised by a unique style blending fantasy and realism. Murakami's literature and writings have had a profound influence beyond Japan, reaffirming the award's determination to connect various cultures and civilisations.
In the Literature category, Lebanese/French author Hoda Barakat won for her novel 'Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World'. Moroccan writer Latifa Labsir won the Children's Literature category for her book 'The Phantom of Sabiba'. Italian Marco Di Branco won in the Translation category for his translation of 'Orosius' by Paulus Orosius. Dr. Said Laouadi from Morocco received the award in the Literary and Art Criticism category for his book 'Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arab Heritage'.
Emirati Prof. Dr. Mohammed Bechari won in the Contribution to the Development of Nations category for his book 'The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women's Rights'. UK researcher Andrew Peacock won in the Arab Culture in Other Languages category for his work 'Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries'. Rasheed Alkhayoun from Iraq/UK received recognition in the Editing of Arabic Manuscripts category for his critical edition of the book 'News of Women'.
The winners and Cultural Personality of the Year will be honoured on April 28th in a ceremony organised by the ALC in parallel with the 34th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF). The award's 19th edition received a record-breaking number of over 4,000 submissions from 75 countries, including 20 Arab nations. Five countries participated for the first time this year: Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mali.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award remains one of the most prominent independent literary and academic prizes.