" Zayed for the book" You celebrate a busy march for two decades

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Abu Dhabi, July 24 / WAM / The “Sheikh Zayed Book Award” has succeeded since its inception in 2006, to establish its position as one of the most prominent literary and cultural awards in the Arab world, and one of the most important international awards in terms of value and influence, embodying the UAE’s vision to make culture a pillar for sustainable development, and a tool to build bridges of dialogue and communication between civilizations.

The award, which bears the name of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God bless him, managed to shift from a national initiative to celebrate knowledge to a prominent international platform that celebrates creativity and creators, and contributes to highlighting the civilizational face of Arab culture on the global scene.

During nineteen years, the award attracted more than 33 thousand posts from about 80 countries, and honored 136 winners among ten branches covering multiple intellectual, literary and cultural fields, including the branches of children and young manners, the young author, translation, literature, arts and critical studies, manuscripts, development and state building, Arab culture in other languages, publishing and cultural techniques, along with a personal category “” The cultural year “is granted to honor qualitative contributions in the cultural field, and the branches contributed to strengthening Arab presence on the international cultural map by honoring writers, thinkers and publishers who had a clear impact on the literary and intellectual scene, and contributed to the consolidation of the concepts of identity, openness and diversity.

The award started its first session in 2007 with the registration of 1,220 nominations, and the title of “Cultural Year” was awarded to the British translator, Dennis Johnson Davies, in appreciation of his contribution to transferring Arabic literature to English.

In the second session in 2008, the award received 731 posts, and the “Personality of the Year’s Cultural” award went to former Moroccan Minister of Culture, Mohamed bin Isa.

The third tournament in 2009 witnessed 621 participants, and won the Spanish Prize Pedro Martinez Montaviz.

As for the fourth session in 2010, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, honored the “Personality of the Year’s Cultural Award”, and the number of nominations was 693.

In the fifth session in 2011, the award received 715 participants, and Chinese orientalist Chung Ji Kun won, in appreciation of his scientific career in the service of the Arabic language.

In the sixth session in 2012, the number of nominations reached 560, and UNESCO won the award in honor of its role in promoting cultural dialogue.

The seventh session of 2013 witnessed the registration of 1,262 nominations, and won the title of “The Personality of the Cultural Year”, His Eminence the Grand Imam, Dr. Ahmed Al -Tayeb, Sheikh of Al -Azhar.

As for the eighth session of 2014, the posts reached 1,482, and the award was awarded to the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

In 2015, the ninth session was recorded 1,024 posts, and won the “Personality of the Year’s Cultural” award, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai “may God bless him”.

In the tenth session in 2016, the award recorded 1,169 participation from 33 countries, and the Lebanese French writer Amin Maalouf crowned the title of “The Cultural Personality of the Year”.

In 2017, the eleventh session recorded 1,175 participation from 54 countries, and the award was awarded to the Moroccan thinker Dr. Abdullah Al -Arwi.

The twelfth session in 2018, received 1,191 posts, and the “Personality of the Year’s Cultural” award went to the Arab World Institute in Paris.

In 2019, the number of nominations reached 1,500 out of 35 countries, and the award was awarded to academics, Dr. Yaroslav Stitcievic, and Dr. Susan Stetkivic.

As for the fourteenth session of 2020, it received 1,900 posts, and the poet and the late Palestinian translator, Dr. Salma Al -Khadra Al -Jayyousi, won. The fifteenth session in 2021 witnessed a registration of 2,349 nominations, to rise in the sixteenth session in 2022 to more than 3,000 nominations from 55 countries, and the award was awarded to the critic Dr. Abdullah Al -Ghazami.

As for the seventeenth session of 2023, it recorded 3,151 nominations from 60 countries, and the Egyptian musician Omar Khairat won the “Personality of the Year’s Cultural” award. In the eighteenth session of 2024, the number of nominations reached 4,240 from different continents, and the award was awarded to the “Arab House” Foundation in Spain.

As for the nineteenth session of 2025, it witnessed more than 4,000 nominations of 75 nationalities, and won the “Japanese Cultural Personality of the Year” award for the Japanese international novelist Haruki Murakami, in appreciation of his transit literary contributions, and contributed to extending bridges of dialogue between East and West.

75 Arab and foreign countries alone participated in the nineteenth session, including 5 countries for the first time: Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad, Tobago, and Mali. Egypt has exported the list of the highest participating countries, followed by Iraq, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia, while the United States, Britain and France came at the forefront of foreign countries.

As for the branches, the young author’s branch first replaced 1,034 posts (26%), followed by the Arts Branch with 1,001 posts (25%), then the branch of child literature and emerging with 439 posts (11%), followed by the branches of art and critical studies, development and state building, the branch of translation, and Arabic culture in other languages, the achievement of manuscripts, publishing, cultural techniques, and the personality of the year.

The award was introduced in 2013 the branch of “Arabic Culture in other languages” to honor the literature issued in foreign languages from Arab culture.

In 2023, it launched the “Manuscripts Achievement” branch to form a qualitative addition to heritage support.

In 2018, the “translation grant”, which contributed from 2019 to the mid -2025 to the release of 48 translations into 12 languages, was launched for prominent literary and intellectual works such as: “Dinuraf”, “Fall of Patent”, and “in the impact of Al -Zayat ‘titles”, and these translations were with critical acclaim in international exhibitions and events.

The participation of women recorded a remarkable increase by 17% during only three sessions, as the nominations of women increased from 1,042 in the seventeenth session to 1,218 in the nineteenth session, and writers won in multiple branches, and women’s names participated in arbitration committees and scientific councils, which strengthened the presence of women in the cultural scene.

On the international level, the award organized more than 200 events in global cities such as Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Tokyo, New Delhi, Madrid, and London, in cooperation with publishing houses, universities and research centers. It also developed an advanced electronic platform to receive nominations and arbitration, and has published periodic reports that support transparency and enhance institutional performance.

The total value of the award is 7,750,000 dirhams, and is granted through ten branches covering literature, translation, child literature, young author, arts and critical studies, Arabic culture in other languages, achieving manuscripts, development and state building, publishing and cultural technologies, and the cultural year personality. The award is independent and impartial, equivalent to excellence and supports Arab and international creators. Today, nearly two decades after its launch, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award today continues its career as an incubator for creativity, and a platform for Arab culture, embodying the vision of the UAE in building a sustainable cultural future.