Sheikh Zayed Book Award Adds Five New Languages to its Website

19 Jan, 2021

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), has announced the addition of five new languages to its website, opening up the award to more potential nominees from across the world. The website is now available to read in German, Italian, French, Spanish and Russian, in addition to Arabic and English.

The enhancement to the website will also raise the status of the award internationally and facilitate effective communication with both authors and publishers from additional countries, as well as attract more submissions within categories that are specific to non-Arabic works. These include the ‘Translation’ category, which accepts works translated from Arabic to any language, or from any language to Arabic, and the ‘Arabic Culture in other Languages’ category, which welcomes works written in English, Italian, German, French or Spanish.

This year’s edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award was the largest in its history in terms of the number of submissions, as it received 2,349 entries from 57 countries, an increase of 23% compared to last year’s session. The ‘Translation’ and ‘Arabic Culture in Other Languages’ categories have also grown this year, with submitted works accounting for 12% of the total submissions, reflecting the importance of works written in non-Arabic languages and underlining the necessity of making the award’s website available in more languages.

His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Secretary General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, said: “Offering the website in these languages is a very important step to boost the growth of the award on an international level, as the number of submissions from non-Arabic, non-English speaking countries has been constantly growing the past few years.

“We believe in the importance of cultural exchange between different civilisations and the award website provides a platform for exchanging ideas and promoting global dialogue. Adding these five languages will contribute to supplying Arab literature with more international works, which in turn will support our efforts to boost creativity in Arab culture.”

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award website offers comprehensive details about the award, as well as the categories, judging process and the submission terms in its nine categories. It also highlights initiatives offered by the award, including the translation grant, and offers an electronic gateway enabling authors and publishers to submit their entries: https://www.zayedaward.ae

Following the recent announcement of the longlists, the panel of judges is currently evaluating books and preparing the reports for the Scientific Committee, which will issue the shortlists evaluated by the Board of Trustees in order to select the winners.