Sheikh Zayed Book Award Announces Literature, Childrens Literature and Young Author Shortlist

The annual Sheikh Zayed Book Award has revealed nine shortlisted candidates in the Literature, Childrens Literature, and Young Author categories for its 2015 prize.

The announcement follows the conclusion of a series of meetings held by the Awards scientific committee in Abu Dhabi which included judges from Japan and Spain, who met to assess reports submitted by the judges and the evaluation of nominated works.

After the judges rigorous assessment of the nominations, the scientific committee selected an array of high-quality titles for its shortlist. Winners of each category will be announced next month, Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Sheikh Zayed Book Awards Secretary General, explained.

The three books named under Literature include:
1. Hona Al Qahira (This is Cairo) a novel by Ibrahim Abdelmaguid from Egypt, published by Al Dar Al Masriyyah Al Lubnaniyyah (2014).
2. La shama tadoll ummi alai (No moles to lead my mother to me) a poetry collection by Ghassan Zaqtan from Palestine, published by Dar Al Ahliyyah (2014)
3. Majaneen bait lahem (the fools of Bethlehem) a novel by Osama Alaysa from Palestine, published by Nofal- Hachette Antoine (2013).

Titles under Childrens Literature include:
1. Sitt el Koll [Against the Tide] by Taghreed Al Najjar from Jordan, published by Al Salwa Books (2013).
2. Al fatat allati iqtafat aathar shakhsyyat Ibn Al Muqaffa(The Girl Who Traced the Characters of Ibn Al Muqaffa) by Nabiha Mheidli from Lebanon, published by Dar Al Hadaeq (2014).
3. Al Samaka Al Mufakkira (The Thinking Fish) by Hassan Abdallah from Lebanon, published by Dar Al Adab (2013).

In the Young Author category, the following titles were shortlisted:
1. Harakyyet Al Badee fil Khitab Al Shiri (Aesthetics of Poetic Discourse) by Said Laouadi from Morocco, published by Kunouz Al Marifa (2014).
2. Manzilat Al Tamtheel fi falsafat Ibn Rushd (Representation in Ibn Rushds Philosophy) by Fouad Ben Ahmed from Morocco, published by Dar Dhifaf (2014).
3. Sharq Al Dairi (East Ring Road) a novel by Khaled Ahmed from Egypt, published by Dar Al Masri (2014).

The announcement of the first three shortlisted categories marks the first batch in a sequence of three expected announcements to reveal the shortlisted candidates in the rest of categories to follow over the coming weeks. The shortlisted nominations were earlier filtered down from 90 longlisted titles announced earlier this year across all categories.

Winners in all categories will be announced in March, to be followed by Awards Ceremony celebrating the winning achievements on 11th May, coinciding with the silver jubilee edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.