Thursday 8 March 2018

Shortlist unveiled for 2018 Sheikh Zayed Book Award

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award has announced the shortlisted works for its 12th edition, chosen from 1,191 nominations.

The selected works in the Literature category include four narrative works:

Yakfi annana ma’an (يكفي أننا معاً, At Least We are Together) by Egyptian writer Ezzat el-kamhawi, published by Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah, Cairo, Egypt (2017); 
Ikhtibar al-nadam (اختبار الندم, Remorse Test) by Syrian novelist Khalil Sweileh, published by Nofal-Hachette Antoine, Beirut, Lebanon (2017); 
Al-shaytan yoheb ahyanan (الشيطان يحب أحيانا, The Devil May Love Sometimes) by Saudi author Zainab Hifni, also by Nofal-Hachette Antoine, published in 2017; and 
Anaqeed al-radheelah (عناقيد الرذيلة, Grapes of Vice) by Mauritanian novelist Ahmad Hafid, published by Arab Scientific Publishers, Beirut, 2016.

For the Children’s Literature category, the list named:

Jada’el khadra’a’ (جدائل خضراء, Green Braids) by Syrian author Muhannad Al-Aqous, published by Kalimat, 2017; 
Ana salma (أنا سلمى, I am Salma) by Syrian author Lina Hawyan Al-Hasan, published by Hakayaa, Beirut, 2017; and 
’Al-dinoraf (الدينوراف, The Dynoraf) by Emirati author Hessa Almehairi, published by Al Hudhud Publishing and Distribution, UAE, 2017. 

In the Young Author category, two novels and one scholarly study have been selected:

Reih al-sharki (ريح الشركي, The Winds of Sharki) by Moroccan author Mohsine Loukili, published by Dar al-Saqi, Beirut (2017); 
Amtar sayfiyyah (أمطار صيفية, Summer Rains) by Egyptian writer Ahmad Al-Qarmalawi, published by Maktabat al-Dar al-Arabiyah lil-Kitab, Cairo (2017); and 
Al-dars al-balaghi al-arabi: bayn al-seemya’iat wa tahleel al-khitab (الدرس البلاغي العربي، بين السيميائيات وتحليل الخطاب, Arabic Rhetoric: from semiotics to discourse analysis) by Algerian academic Lakhdari Saad, published by Manshourat al-Ikhtilaf, Algeria (2017).

The finalists in the Translation category include three works translated from three different languages:

'Al-thawra ‘al-rabi’a: kayf yo’eed ‘al-ghilaf ‘al-ma’lomati tashkeel ‘al-waqe’ ‘al-‘insani (الثورة الرابعة: كيف يعيد الغلاف المعلوماتي تشكيل الواقع الإنساني, The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality) by author Luciano Floridi and translated from English to Arabic by Lo’ay Abdul-Majid Al Sayyed from Egypt. The work is published by the National Council for Culture, Arts & Literature, Kuwait, 2017; and
Tareekh ‘al-‘oloum wa falsafatuha (تاريخ العلوم وفلسفتها, Histoire et philosophie des sciences) by author Thomas Lepeltier and translated from French by Dr Mohammad Ahmad Tijjo from Syria, published by Arabic Magazine, Riyadh, KSA 2017; and 
Natharayya ‘astiteeqyya (نظرية استيطيقية, Ästhetische Theorie), by author Theodor W. Adorno and translated by Naji Al ‘Awnali of Tunisia from German, published by Al-Jamal Publications, Beirut 2017.

As for the Literary and Art Criticism category, the list includes: 

Fi balaghat al-hajjaj: nahwa balagha hajjajiyyah litahleel al-khitab (في بلاغة الحجاج: نحو مقاربة بلاغية حجاجية لتحليل الخطاب, The Rhetoric of Eloquence), by Moroccan scholar Mohamed Mechbal, published by Kunooz Al Maarifa, Amman, Jordan (2017);  Tatweer al-harf al-arabi wa tahaddiyat al-awlama (تطوير الحرف العربي وتحديات العولمة, Developing the Arabic Letter; Challenges of Globalization) by Moroccan academic Abderrazzak Tourabi, published by Institut d’Etudes et de Recherches pour l’Arabisation – Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco (2015), and 
Al-kitaba wa bina’a al-shi’r ‘ind Adonis (الكتابة وبناء الشعر عند أدونيس, The Writing & Poetry of Adonis) by Tunisian scholar Omar Hfaiedh, published by Dar al-Saqi, Beirut (2015).

Under the Arab Culture in other Languages category, the list includes four works:

La vida de los edificios in Spanish by Rafael Moneo; 
La maîtrise de la concupiscence in French by Mohammed Hocine Benkheira; 
Die Koranische Verzauberung der Welt und ihre Entzauberung in der Geschichte in German by Angelika Neuwirth; and 
Success and Suppression: Arabic Sciences and Philosophy in the Renaissance in English by Dag Nikolaus Hasse.

As for Publishing and Cultural Technologies, four publishing houses made it to the shortlist including: Dar Al Kitab Al Jadeed; Dar Al-Tanweer; and Arab Institute for Research & Publishing from Lebanon; and Les Edition Toubkal from Morocco.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award will withhold the award for the Development of Nations category for this edition.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s list of winners for 2018 are scheduled for announcement next week. The Awards’ presentation ceremony is on April 30.