Strong Egyptian presence in Sheikh Zayed Book Award short list

CAIRO – 16 March 2021: The Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s 15th edition at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism, announced the shortlists of the Young Author, Child and Young Adult Literature and Literature branches. 

The lists included nine works from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine and Lebanon. Women writers had the lion’s share of these lists, with seven works out of nine.

The Young Author shortlist included three works that were selected out of the 14 works of the Long List, the shortlist of the Child and Young Adult Literature section included three works out of the 13 works of the long list, and the Literature branch included three works from its long list of 12 works.

It is worth noting that the Young Author branch received 646 candidates this edition, with an increase of approximately 30 percent compared to the previous edition, while the Literature branch witnessed a-33-percent increase in the number of candidates, with 584 candidates. 

As for the Child and Young Adult Literature branch, it received 244 works, showing an increase of nearly 19 percent compared to the previous edition.

The award will announce the shortlists of its other branches over the next few weeks.

The 15th edition of Sheikh Zayed Book Award is considered the biggest in the history of the award in terms of the number of candidates, as the award received 2,349 works for its nine branches this year, with an increase of approximately 23 percent compared to the previous edition.

The winners will be honored during a virtual ceremony in May coinciding with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, where the winner of the title of "Cultural Personality of the Year" will be honored and given a gold medal bearing the award’s logo, as well as a certificate of appreciation and a sum of one million dirhams.

The winners in the other branches will receive a gold medal and a certificate of appreciation, in addition to a monetary award of 750,000 dirhams.