The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) has revealed the titles that have made the shortlist for the Literature and Literary & Art Criticism categories for the 13th edition of the award, following the Scientific Committee meeting last week.
The Literature shortlist consists of three titles out of 13 longlisted titles, while the Literary & Art Criticism shortlist consists of three out of nine titles selected in the longlist.
The shortlist for the Literature category comprises:
- Terter (ترتر, The Sequin Embroidery) by Iraqi novelist Nizar Abdelsattar, published by Nofal-Hachette Antoine, 2018.
- Ghawaso Al Ahqaf (غواصو الأحقاف, Divers of the Empty Quarter) by Saudi novelist Amal Al Faran, published by Jadawel Publishing, Translation & Distribution, 2016.
- The autobiography Al That Bayn Al Wujood Wal Eijad (الذات بين الوجود والإيجاد, The Self - between Existence and Creation) by Moroccan novelist Bensalem Himmich, published by Book Cultural Centre for Publishing & Distribution, 2018.
The shortlist for the Literary & Art Criticism category includes:
- Al Khetab Tholathy A Ab’aad: Derasat Fe Al Adab Al Mo’aser (الخطاب ثلاثي الأبعاد دراسات في الأدب العربي المعاصر, Three-dimensional Discourse in Contemporary Literature) by Syrian academic Dr Samar Al Dayyoub, published by Department of Culture – Sharjah, 2017
- Ketabat Al Qatl Fi Al Adab Al Arabi Al Qadeem (كتابة القتل في الأدب العربي القديم, Writing about Crime in Ancient Arabic Literature) by Tunisian academic Dr Amna Al Rumaili, published by Zeyneb Edition for Publishing & Distribution, 2018
- Al She’r Al ‘Arabi: Qasidat Al Nathr (الشعر العربي الحديث: قصيدة النثر, Contemporary Arabic Poetry - the prose) by Lebanese scholar Dr Charbel Dagher, published by Al Maaref Forum, 2018
The Literature category received the highest number of submissions for the sixth year in a row with 382 nominations, while the Literary & Art Criticism category received 151 nominations. The longlists for both categories were announced in November and December 2018.
Out of the 13 competing titles for Literature, the long list included three works published by Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah, Cairo, Egypt; three novels published by Nofal-Hachette Antoine of Beirut, Lebanon; and two titles each by Jadawel Publishing, Translation & Distribution and Dar Al Adab Printing, Publishing & Distribution
Further announcements on shortlisted titles for the remaining categories will be made in the next few weeks.