Oxford University partners with Sheikh Zayed Book Award to support the Arabic Literature

A strategic partnership between the Middle East Centre at Oxford University and Sheikh Zayed Book Award was announced on Monday the 15th  of June 2009 by the Award’s Secretary General Mr. Rashed Al Oraimi, who revealed that this partnership comes as part of the Award’s initiative worldwide to revive the Arabic culture and support the creative literary works of Arabs Authors, publishers and translators. Al Oraimi explained that the partnership will constitute of sponsoring lectures at Oxford University, joining renowned speakers and famous figures from the region’s cultural arena. The first seminar will be held next November with details yet to be announced at a later stage. The Middle East Centre will also exhibit the winning works of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in a special space dedicated for the purpose at their new premises currently under construction. Commenting on the significance of this collaboration, Al Oraimi said: “To have Oxford as partners in putting the Award’s goals into practice gives us the momentum on an international level, backed up by such a reputable academic entity with a historical record that speaks for itself.” The Middle East Centre of St Antony’s College is the centre for the interdisciplinary study of the modern Middle East at the University of Oxford. The Centre Fellows teach and conduct research in the humanities and social sciences with direct reference to the Arab world, Iran, Israel and Turkey, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Previously this year, the award announced several partenerships with renowned universities and cultural centers such as the Indian Arab Cultural Centre in New Delhi, PEN international, the Nobel Prize and the Swedish Academy.