Nine works long-listed for “Best Contribution to Development of Nations

A total of nine works have made it to Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s Longlist for “Best Contribution to Development of the Nation” out of 207 works nominated for this category in the Award’s 7th session for the year 2012/2013. The Award’s Reading Panels concluded their work, filtering a total of 1262 works nominated for the Award’s diverse categories through September and October 2012. The category recognizes books in the fields of economics, sociology, management, politics, law and theology that contribute to a nation's advancement, whether theoretic review or documenting practice. The long-list includes contenders from Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, KSA, Lebanon, Iraq, and Morocco: Book title Author Country Publisher Al myah al haqiqia (The Real Water) Mohammad Al Ashram Syria Centre for Arab Unity Studies, Lebanon 2012 Al Waqf wal 'omran al islami (Islamic Endowment and Urbanism) Nubi Mohammad Hassan Egypt King Saud University, KSA 2011 Istibahat damm al insan (Human Blood Shed in the Age of Image) Bader AbdulMalek Bahrain The Arab Institute for Research and Publishing, Beirut 2012 Al fikr al 'arabi al mu'aser (Contemporary Arab Thought) Elizabeth Kassab Lebanon Centre for Arab Unity Studies, Beirut 2012 Falsafat al dawla (The Philosophy of State) Munther Al Shawi Iraq Ward Publishing House, Jordan 2012 Al 'ilm wal syada (Science and Sovereignty) Antoine Zahlan Lebanon Centre for Arab Unity Studies, Beirut 2012 Al tanmiya al iqtisadiyya (Economic Development in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) AbdulAziz Al Dakheel KSA Dar Al Saqi, Beirut 2012 Al insan wal rihla wal istikshaf (Man and the Journey of Discovery) Barakat Murad Egypt Dar Kunooz, Jeddah 2012 Al fitna wal inqisam Sedition and Division Abul Ilah BilQuziz Morocco Centre for Arab Unity Studies, Beirut 2012 Meanwhile, the Award’s judging panels work is in progress since November 11, to evaluate the long listed books. The assessment results will be collectively evaluated by the Scientific Committee of the Award to produce a short list which will again be evaluated to choose the winner of each category.  The winners are scheduled for announcement in February 2012, and the Award’s Presentation Ceremony, celebrating the winning achievements, will be held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions on 25th March next year. Last year, the award for “Best Contribution to the Development of Nations” was withheld as nominations did not meet the Award’s stringent criteria, hence the award’s Scientific Committee opted to withhold them as a result. The award comprises of nine categories where the total monetary prize stands at seven million UAE dirhams. Each prize consists of a gold medal bearing the SZBA logo, a certificate of merit and 750,000.00 Dirhams. The Cultural Personality of the Year winner receives a prize of one million dirhams.