Hoda Barakat, Haruki Murakami Lead Zayed Award Winners
Hoda Barakat. Image: Provided to Publishing Perspectives by Astier-Pécher Literary & Film Agency, Paris
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Cultural Personality: Haruki Murakami
With April 28 set as the date on which the Sheikh Zayed Book Award‘s 19th-edition honors will be conferred during the 34th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF), this wealthy and increasingly influential Arabic-based program today (April 8) has named its new winners and Cultural Personality of the Year.
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the winner of the Cultural Personality of the Year award is presented with a gold medal, a certificate of appreciation, and a prize of 1 million United Arab Emirates dirhams (US$272,286), while each winner in the other categories receives a prize of 750,000 dirhams (US$204,215), along with gold medal and a certificate of appreciation, “in honor of their outstanding creative and intellectual contributions.”
The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre is part of the United Arab Emirates’ capitol department of culture and tourism (ALC).
The language center, under the direction of Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, is also the sponsor of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
To review the shortlists in this, the 19th edition of this program, you’ll find our coverage here. (This is an awards program, the early stages of which are mounted in the year before the year in which each award is announced, so the use of “edition” this time means , technically, the 2024-2025 set of prizes.)
The key news here is that the Lebanese writer Hoda Barakat has won the program’s 19th edition Literary category award. (For background, our interview with Barakat, from her 2019 win of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for The Night Mail is here.)
Barakat is represented by Paris’ Astier-Pécher Literary & Film Agency.
Haruki Murakami
And Haruki Murakami of Japan has been given the coveted Cultural Personality of the Year honor “in recognition of his creative career and widespread literary influence, unbound by borders, impacting both Arab and Western cultures.
“His works are widely read and translated around the world, reflecting literature’s ability to bring differing cultures closer together.”
Dr. Ali Bin Tamim
In his main statement, Bin Tamim today says, “I congratulate the winners of the 19th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for their outstanding achievements, which have contributed to the enrichment of the Arab and international cultural scene.
“Their works were inspiring, tackling new and distinguished topics that delve deep into the human condition and shed light on time and history, which made them stand out to the Award organizers and earn their admiration.
“This year’s edition recorded unprecedented competition, reflecting the pioneering and prestigious status of the award, which, over the past year, was able to attract distinguished literary and scientific works that have made valuable contributions to the Arab, regional, and international libraries.”
Here is the list of winners as provided today. They come from seven countries including including the UK, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco and the UAE.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award Winners’ List, 19th Edition
Literature
Lebanese/French author Hoda Barakat wins the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Literature category for her novel Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, published by Dar Aladab in 2024.
Children’s Literature
Moroccan writer Latifa Labsir wins the Children’s Literature category for her book The Phantom of Sabiba, released by Markaz Kitab in 2024.
Translation
In the Translation category, Marco Di Branco from Italy wins for his translation from Arabic to English of Orosius by Paulus Orosius, published by Pisa University Press in 2024.
Literary and Art Criticism
Said Laouadi from Morocco receives the award in the Literary and Art Criticism category for his book Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arab Heritage published in 2023 by Afrique Orient.
Contribution to the Development of Nations
The Contribution to the Development of Nations category sees the Emirati scholar Mohammed Bechari win for his book The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women’s Rights, issued in 2024 by Nahdet Misr Publishing.
Arab Culture in Other Languages
United Kingdom researcher Andrew Peacock wins in the Arab Culture in Other Languages category for his book Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, published by Brill in 2024.
Editing of Arabic Manuscripts
In the Editing of Arabic Manuscripts category, the SZBA goes to Rasheed Alkhayoun from Iraq and United Kingdom for his critical edition of the book News of Women, published by the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies in 2024.
Cultural Personality of the Year
The 19th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award honors Japanese author Haruki Murakami as Cultural Personality of the Year, in recognition of his creative career and widespread literary influence, unbound by borders, impacting both Arab and Western cultures.
This edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award drew an record 4,000-plus submissions from 75 nations, including 20 Arab nations.
Five first-time country-participants were engaged: Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mali.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award is here, more on the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center is here, more on Arabic literature is here, and more on translation is here. More from us on publishing and book awards in the international industry is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
