A total of 1,900 nominations from 49 countries have been submitted for 14th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, SZBA, across its nine categories, the award has announced.
Following the conclusion of nominations, which came from 22 Arab countries and 27 foreign ones, the Reading Panel Committee convened to filter out the submissions.
Chaired by Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, the Award’s Secretary General, the Committee evaluated the literary works over four consecutive days.
Members of the Committee included a group of experts and consultants in humanities, namely Prof. Dr. Khalil Al Shaikh, member of the Scientific Committee of the Award from Jordan; Samer Abu Hawash, member of the Scientific Committee of the Award from Palestine; and Dr. Ali Al-Kaabi from the UAE.
Dr Ali Bin Tamim emphasized that the award is growing and improving year on year. “The 2019/2020 edition has received 1900 nominations, an increase of 400, compared to 13th edition, which got 1500 works. It not only that, but the number of countries participating has also increased from 35 to 49, a growth of 14 countries”.
He added: “We have received exceptional works from prominent authors and publishing houses, cultural centers and universities. The highest number of Arab nominations came from Egypt, Iraq, KSA, Algeria, UAE, Morocco and Syria. Meanwhile, UK led foreign countries in terms of the submissions followed by Germany, USA, France, Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia and Spain respectively.
He noted that the two categories that witnessed the highest nominations were firstly Young Author (498 nominations) followed by Literature (438).
“Such an impressive improvement in the volume of participation reaffirms the award’s resounding success achieved year on year. The award was first launched to honour our founding father the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his leading role played to build a united nation. It also underscores the cultural status of the UAE, being a global hub for culture makers, intellectuals, creators, publishers and youth”, Secretary General of SZBA highlighted.
During its meeting, the Committee evaluated the nominations in preparation to announce the long lists in the coming weeks. A panel of judges will then assess the eligible submissions, according to well-thought-out criteria, taking into account knowledge specialization, commitment to a clear analysis and composition, aesthetics of language and style, information sufficiency, comprehensiveness, relevance, reliability of sources and references, academic integrity in quoting and documentation, originality and novelty in the subject matter.