The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is one of the Arab world’s most prestigious and well funded. In total it’s prize value is estimated at $1,905,830. Recently, the nomination committee announced several updates about the progress of the 14th edition competition.
Among them is the release of the long list for the Contribution to Development of Nations Category. Eleven titles were selected from 223 nominations. There has been a record-breaking number of submissions.
Morocco’s The Crisis of Reading and Culture in Morocco and the Arab World by Mohamed Bouslam was selected. Ibn Rushd and the Building of the Arab Intellectual Renaissance by Dr. Aziz Al-Haddadi was also chosen. In the Literary and Art Criticism category, there were 10 out of 188 nominations; five of them are Moroccan authors.
There are three more evaluations for the books to undergo before the final winners are announced in Spring 2020 between March-April 2020. The official award presentation will take place in April.
The Sheikh Book Award aims to honor writers and intellectuals who have made positive contributions to modern-day literature. It also seeks to inspire creative youth and motivate them to pursue writing and compete.