Sheikh Zayed Book Award receives more than 500 nominations to date

Abu Dhabi (WAM): The Sheikh Zayed Book Award has announced that it has received more than 526 nominations to date for its ninth session of 2014 / 2015 since opening nominations in May. The nominations came from all over the world, including Arab and western countries, according to a statement from Saeed Hamdan, Manager of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award. Egypt topped the list with 158 nominations, reflecting 29% of the total, followed by Morocco and Iraq with 56 and 48 nominations respectively. Meanwhile KSA’s contribution stands at 42 nominations or 7.6%, ahead of Jordan’s 40 nominations. The Award has also received 30 nominations from the U.A.E., as well as works from Yemen, Algeria, Libya, India and many more. As for Western contributions, the Award has attracted nominations from a number of countries including France, Australia, Germany, and most significantly from Spain and Japan, geared up by the Award’s decision to accept literary works in Spanish and Japanese for the "Arabic Culture in Other Languages" category for this session. The category honours all written works in languages other than Arabic, about the Arabic civilisation and culture, in the fields of humanities, fine arts, and literature throughout its historical eras. Besides Spanish and Japanese, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award will also accept works in English. "We hope that this massive flow of nominations continues until the closing date, and we are definite that such contributions will heat up the race towards winning the Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s various categories," Saeed Hamdan commented. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award will be accepting nominations until September 1st. Applications must be collected from the Administrative Offices of the Award or can be downloaded online from the Award’s official website. Once completed and signed, the application forms should be submitted to the Sheikh Zayed Book Award Offices along with the candidate's resume, passport copy, personal photo, and five copies of the nominated work in a book format - works nominated for the Award of "Publishing and Cultural Technologies" can be in digital format. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award's first edition was in 2007, and intended to promote scholarship and creativity in Arab culture. It carries cash prizes totalling Dh7 million - with Dh750,000 per winner in all eight categories (including the Arab Culture in non-Arabic languages category). The winners also receive a certificate of merit and a Gold Medal. – Emirates News Agency, WAM