There are five African authors on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2017 Longlist which was announced on November 7, 2017. They are Mahmoud al-Werwary, Ezzat el-Kamhawi, Ibrahim Eissa, Ahmad Hafid, and Hassouna Mosbahi.
The Sheikh Zayed Book award is an independent cultural award administered by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, with a total monetary value of AED seven million dirhams (US$ 272,264). It was named after Sheikh Zayed the ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of UAE for more than 30 years. Some of the winners of the previous years include Wacini Laredj, Ibrahim al Kouni, Jamal Al Ghitani, Hafnaoui Baali, Mohammad Miftah, Abdo Wazen, Jawdat Fakhr Eldine, and Abbas Beydoun.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced its Literature Category long list for its twelfth edition, consisting of 13 titles out of the 337 nominations which were received in the category since last May. The 337 nominations came mostly from Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
The three Egyptian writers are The Autumn of The Big City by Mahmoud al-Werwary (2017), At Least We’re Together by Ezzat el-Kamhawi (2017), and A Journey of Blood by Ibrahim Eissa (2016). The other two are Grapes of Vice by Mauritanian novelist Ahmad Hafid (2016) and In Pursuit of Happiness By Tunisian author Hassouna Mosbahi (2017).
The awards will be given in a ceremony as part of the 2018 Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in 2018.
You can read an even more in depth report on the awards at our friends from Arablit.
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