Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2022 literature longlist revealed.

Writers from Egypt, Morocco, and Mauritania made the longlist in literature for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2022 revealed on December 7, 2021.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is presented yearly to Arab writers, intellectuals, and publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab cultural, literary and social life. It is named after the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founding President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi. The award winners get a gold medal, a certificate of merit, and 750,000 dirhams.

The categories handed out are Cultural Personality of the Year, Children’s Literature, Young Author, Contribution to the Development of Nations, Translation, Literature, Literary and Art Criticism, Arab Culture in Other Languages, and Publishing and Technology.

For 2022, Fifteen titles made it onto the literature longlist from a total of 852 submissions, a 46% in-crease in the number of applications compared to last year. The following African writers made the cut;

• Matahat Al A’abed (The Labyrinth of The Worshiper) by Mohamed Youssef Elgharbawi (Egypt), published by Ibiidi Publishing in 2021.
• Ghorbat Al Manazil (Strangers at Home) by Ezzat Elkamhawy (Egypt), published by Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah in 2021.
• Wa Tahmelany Hayraty Wa Dh’anony. Seerat Altakween (Composition Biog-raphy: Thoughts and Confusion Carry Me) by Said Bengrad (Morocco), published by Le Centre Culturel Du Livre in 2021.
• Al Shan’qeeti (Al-Shanqeeti) by Sayid Weld Bah (Mauritania), published by Le Centre Culturel Du Livre in 2021.
• Habs Qarah (Confining a Continent) by Said Bensaid Alaoui (Morocco), pub-lished by Le Centre Culturel Du Livre in 2021.

The shortlist and winners will be announced at a later date.