Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) announced that applications are now open for the 2023 edition of the prestigious Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) Awards. This highly anticipated event will showcase five main categories, including the renowned ‘Turjuman’ Award, along with nine associated accolades. The SIBF Awards aim to honour exceptional achievements by writers, intellectuals, and publishers, as well as recognize local talents who are reshaping the Arab intellectual, cultural, literary, and social landscape through their writing and translation endeavours.
In a bid to celebrate and motivate first-time Emirati novelists, Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), the organiser of the annual award, has announced a new category to highlight their work, perspectives and voices.
Interested applicants in the UAE, the Arab region and from around the world need to submit their entries for this global award on the book fairs official website https://www.sibf.com/en/content?id=10374 before August 31, 2023, to be considered by the jury. Winners of the 2023 edition of the SIBF Awards will be announced during the grand opening ceremony of the 42nd SIBF, which takes place this November in Expo Centre Sharjah.
Exceeding a value of AED 2 million, the award is divided into 5 main categories including Sharjah Translation Turjuman, The Sharjah Award for an Emirati Book; Sharjah Award for the Best Arabic Novel; Sharjah Award for the Best International Book; and The Sharjah Publisher Recognition Award .
The Sharjah Translation ‘Turjuman Award
The 7th annual Sharjah Translation Turjuman Award will continue to highlight the achievements of talented translators and publishers who are playing an instrumental role in taking the Arabic language works to non-Arab readers worldwide. AED 100,000 of the AED 1.4M is awarded to the translator, and the remaining prize is split between the two publishers who publish the original Arabic work and the one who translates it.
Sharjah Award for an Emirati Book announces a new category for budding local talent
This AED 300,000 award category has introduced an important new category Best Emirati Book for First-Time Authors to encourage and promote emerging local writers, who will be awarded AED 50,000 for an outstanding debut novel that demonstrates their literary prowess and creative ingenuity.
The other three sub-categories of this award are Best Emirati Novel Award, Best Emirati Creative Literature Book, and Best Emirati Academic Book, which are designed to encourage local literary talents, authors, researchers and publishers to continue enriching the UAE library with exceptional and valuable work.
Sharjah Award for the Best Arabic Novel
The AED 150,000 award recognises original works that present fresh themes, styles, and creative perspectives in their portrayal of the sociocultural realities of the Arab world.
Sharjah Award for the Best International Book
Divided into two subcategories of fiction and non-fiction, each valued at AED 50,000, this award honours the most outstanding literary works of the year in English.
Sharjah Publisher Recognition Award
The AED 75,000 award is split equally amongst the winners of the following sub-categories: Best Local Publisher, Best Arab Publisher and Best International Publisher, recognising each ones contributions to advancing the global industry.
For detailed information regarding the terms and eligibility criteria for participation in SIBFs Awards 2023, please visit the SIBFs official website at: www.sibf.com/ar/awards.