Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2025 longlists announced

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2025 longlists in four categories were announced in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, December 6, 2024.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is presented 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. 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. The award winners get a gold medal, a certificate of merit, and 750,000 dirhams.

For 2024, which is the 19^th edition, the award received more than 4,000 nominations from 75 countries, including 20 Arab nations and 55 from around the world. From these, longlists were announced in Literature, Young Author, Children’s Literature, and Editing of Arabic Manuscripts categories on Friday. These are the writers of African descent in the running in the three first categories;

Literature category

• I Speak Your Name, As a Violin, Ahmed Elshahawy (Egypt), published by Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah in 2024.
• The Sphinx, Ahmed Mourad (Egypt), published by Dar El Shorouk in 2023.
• The Age of Damiana, Ossama Abdelraof Elshazly (Egypt), published by Al Rewaq Publishing in 2024.
• Lisan Al-Din Ibn Al-Khatib: The Man with Two Graves or Granada’s Autumn, El Bachir Damoun (Morocco), published by Bab Alhikma Publications in 2023.
• The Pashador, Hassane Aourid (Morocco), published by Markaz Kitab in 2024.
• Then I Turned to the Shadow, Rawda Elhaj (Sudan), published by Rashm Publishing and Distribution in 2023.
• Ibn Yamma: An Andalusian Myth’, Tarek Chibani (Tunisia), published by Khraief Edition in 2024.

Young Author category

• Stylistic Orientations Across Narratives: Analyzing Al Tabrizi’s Interpretation of Abu Tammam’s Diwan, Azouber Abdallah Abdoulkader Alansary (Mali), published by Malamih Publishing & Distribution in 2022.
• Epistemology of Religious Belief and Ethics, Dr. El Mehdi Moustakim (Morocco), published by Estefham Publishing & Distribution in 2024.
• Rab’ Al Ruzz, Shaimaa Ghunaim (Egypt), published by Elain Publishing in 2024.
• The Novel and Boundaries: From Cultural Polarity to Cultural Space, Abderazzak Mesbahi (Morocco), published by Modern Alrihab Institution in 2024.
• The Poetics of Values in Classical Arabic Biography: Antarah ibn Shaddad Biography’, Dr. Fatiha Gholam (Morocco), published by Afaq Institution in 2022.
• Al Zarayib, Mohamed Sawy (Egypt), published by Bait Elyasmin in 2024.
• The Judge’s House: The Journey of Qasim ibn Yunus, Mahmoud Adel Taha (Egypt), published by Bait Elyasmin in 2023.
• Rhetoric in Philosophical Discourse: Analytical Examples of Mohammed Abed Al Jabri’s Work, Dr. Mounir Bourd (Morocco), published by Kunouz Al-Ma’refa Publishing and Distribution in 2023.

Children’s Literature category

• The White Demon, Ahmed Korani (Egypt), published by Dar Shan Publishing & Distribution in 2024.
• Farida, Ahmed Elabbasy (Egypt), published by Asala Publishers in 2023.
• Princess of the Nile, Eiwan Zoheir (Egypt), published by Nahdet Misr Publishing in 2022.
• Scraps, Rahima Belfar (Algeria), published by Orjouha Publishing & Distribution in 2023.
• The Phantom of Sabiba, Latifa Labsir (Morocco), published by Markaz Kitab in 2024.
• The Digital Fox, Hegra Elsawi (Egypt), published by Dar Shan Publishing & Distribution in 2024.

The longlists in other categories will be announced over the coming weeks. The winner is usually announced at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair which this year runs from April 26 – May 5, 2025.

Please support our work at Writing Africa with a one-off donation or regularly on PayPal, Ko-Fi, Patreon, or Mobile Money by clicking here.