Literary and Art Criticism shortlist was announced by Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2022

on Apr 01, 2022

Shortlisted for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Literary and Art Criticism category are books from Tunisia, Syria, and Morocco.

From a longlist of seven books, the three works were chosen. The category Literary and Art Criticism includes criticism in the domains of art, film, music, theatre, image studies, architecture, sculpture, historical ruins, folkloric arts, and literary and thought history.

This year's category received 273 entries, up 37% from the 199 entries received the year before.

The shortlisted titles are:

Nahwa al Shawari’: Fi Raheel al Nahw ila al Shawari (The Role of Street Grammar in Influencing Proper Grammar) by Tunisian author Taoufik Alaloui

Al Sarid wa Taw’am al Rooh: Min al Tamtheel ila al Istinaa (The Narrator and the Soulmate: From Acting to Faking) by Moroccan writer by M'hamed Aldahi

Iqa’at al Ibdaa fi al Tabee’aa wal Fann (Rhythms of Creativity in Nature and Art) by Syrian author Kamal Alkontar.

Earlier this month, shortlists in five categories were revealed: Literature, Children's Literature, Young Author, Arab Culture in Other Languages, and Publishing & Technology.

With the announcement of the Literary and Art Criticism contenders, the Contribution to the Development of Nations category is the only shortlist yet to be announced.

Winners of the 16th Sheikh Zayed Book Award will be honoured in a ceremony in May, alongside the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

The Cultural Personality of the Year will be named as part of the award. The winner of that award will get a gold medal, a certificate of merit, and a Dh1 million monetary prize. The winners of the other categories will each get a gold medal, a certificate of merit, and a Dh750,000 cash reward.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, which honours writers, innovators, and thinkers in literature, the arts, and humanities in Arabic and other languages from across the Arab world, is named after UAE Founding Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, which is part of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, is organising the event with the goal of advancing Arabic literature and providing new chances for Arabic-language writers.

The 2022 award is the largest to date in terms of submissions and the number of participating countries, its organisers said. More than 3,000 submissions were sent in from 55 countries, including 20 Arab nations and 35 foreign countries, an increase of about 28 per cent on 2021.