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| Source: Sheikh Zayed Book Award. Amin Maalouf, French novelist. |
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s board of trustees and scientific committee have named Lebanese-born French novelist Amin Maalouf as their winner for this year’s Cultural Personality of the Year Award in recognition of his achievements as a novelist.
The Award recognises Maalouf’s ability to recreate unique experiences and adventures in an extraordinary literary style that amalgamates distinctly Arabic narrative and modernist Western styles in creative works and intellectual research. Maalouf’s treatment of themes that touch upon modern-day fears and concerns, in intricate poetic and narrative forms, secured his indisputable position within the literary world, and informed the decision by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award to name him Cultural Personality of the Year, according to a statement from the award organisers.
Maalouf has continued to make use of history in his fiction and to employ his narrative skill in his historical studies. He has published a number of novels based on history, including Leon Africanus (1986), Samarkand (1988), The Gardens of Light (1991), and The Rock of Tanios (1993).
Interested?
The award ceremony will take place on May 1, coinciding with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Maalouf will receive a prize of AED1,000,000, a gold medal bearing the Sheikh Zayed Book Award logo, as well as a certificate of merit.
Maalouf holds a degree in economics and sociology from Beirut University. He worked in the Beirut-based daily Al-Nahar, reporting on international and political affairs. He had firsthand experience of the Lebanese civil war, and then moved to Paris with his wife and children, where he worked for the weekly newspaper Al-Nahar Al-Arabi and at the French Jeune Afrique.
Maalouf has conveyed in French some key moments in the history of Arab and other Eastern peoples to the world, shedding light on distinguished personalities dedicated to promoting harmony and dialogue between the East and the West. His works are characterised by a consistent array of themes ranging from his civil war experience, constant search for identity, cultural tolerance, and world citizenship. The themes are embodied in his characters, most of whom speak several languages, master more than one talent, and enjoy multiple citizenships. Several characters in his novels are victims of circumstances (migration, war, and unremitting suffering); nevertheless, they are able to reinvent their own destinies, relying on their talent and belief in their high human values.
Maalouf has conveyed in French some key moments in the history of Arab and other Eastern peoples to the world, shedding light on distinguished personalities dedicated to promoting harmony and dialogue between the East and the West. His works are characterised by a consistent array of themes ranging from his civil war experience, constant search for identity, cultural tolerance, and world citizenship. The themes are embodied in his characters, most of whom speak several languages, master more than one talent, and enjoy multiple citizenships. Several characters in his novels are victims of circumstances (migration, war, and unremitting suffering); nevertheless, they are able to reinvent their own destinies, relying on their talent and belief in their high human values.
His first book in French, The Crusades through Arab Eyes (1983), revealed his fundamental interests: history on one hand, and narrative writing on the other. Back then, the Crusades were a central theme in French historical studies and literary texts based on history, but they were rarely presented from an Arab perspective. Maalouf‘s book presented the Crusades as experienced by the Arab community in its various segments and affiliations. He followed a strictly objective approach founded on a humanism that pervades all his work. The Crusades were not merely wars of religion as they are sometimes taken to be; they were cultural clashes whose impact can still be witnessed today.
Maalouf has continued to make use of history in his fiction and to employ his narrative skill in his historical studies. He has published a number of novels based on history, including Leon Africanus (1986), Samarkand (1988), The Gardens of Light (1991), and The Rock of Tanios (1993).
Interested?
The award ceremony will take place on May 1, coinciding with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Maalouf will receive a prize of AED1,000,000, a gold medal bearing the Sheikh Zayed Book Award logo, as well as a certificate of merit.