Meet the Winners of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award 15th Edition
Date May, 25 2021
Location Hybrid event - Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and YouTube Livestream
The 15th Edition winners of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award met both physically and virtually in a hybrid event held at the 30th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) for a literary session discussing their award-winning work that have enriched Arab scholarship and cultural, literary and social life.
The winners were introduced by Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Secretary-General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, and Professor Dr. Khalil Al Sheikh, SZBA Scientific Committee member, researcher, critic and translator who moderated the session.
Among those honoured were Egyptian author Iman Mersal in the ‘Literature’ category; Tunisian author Mizouni Bannani in the ‘Children’s Literature’ category; Saudi author Dr. Asma Muqbil Awad Alahmadi in the ‘Young Author’ category; Tunisian researcher Khelil Gouia in the ‘Literary and Art Criticism’ category; Egyptian author Saeed El-Masry in the ‘Contribution to the Development of Nations’ category; American translator Michael Cooperson in the ‘Translation’ category; US researcher Tahera Qutbuddin in the ‘Arab Culture in Other Languages’ category; and Lebanon-based publishing house Dar Al Jadeed in the ‘Publishing and Technology’ category.
To watch the full session, visit http://bit.ly/SZBAMeetTheWinners2021YT. Highlights from the session are available for viewing on https://youtu.be/k-3J3AUaAnU
Speakers
Dr. Khalil Al Sheikh
A seasoned Researcher, Critic and Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at Jordan's Yarmouk University, and a Scientific Committee Member of Sheikh Zayed Book Award
HE Dr Ali bin Tamim
Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, Secretary-General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
HE Dr Ali bin Tamim is Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) at the Department of Culture and Tourism, as well as Secretary General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Markaz, Majallat al-Dirasat al-Arabiyya, and the leading online news portal 24.ae.
Bin Tamim has held a variety of positions in the UAE's cultural and heritage sectors. He was the chairperson of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and a member of the National Archives' board of directors (2015 - 2018). Bin Tamim also oversaw the "Kalima" Translation Project and was General Manager of Abu Dhabi Media Company (2016 - 2019).
Bin Tamim was chosen as a Jury member for several important cultural awards in the UAE, including the Prince of Poets Programme, the Dubai Cultural Award, and the Khalifa Educational Award. He also served on the Supreme Committee of the State Appreciation Award.
Iman Mersal
Egyptian poet, writer, academic and translator. She works as an Associate professor of Arabic literature and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Alberta, Canada and currently resides in Marseille, France, where she holds the Albert Camus chair at IMéRA, the Institute for Advanced Study of Aix-Marseille University until July 2021, while working on a book entitled Al Laknah: Al Sawt fee Ghair Makaneh (Accent: the Displaced Voice). An anthology of her works was translated into more than twenty languages and she has five poetry collections published. Her most recent published works include Hatta Atakhlla Aan Fekrat Al Boyot (Until I Abandon the Idea of Homes) in 2013, Kayfa Taltaem: Aan Al Omoma wa Askhbahuha (How to Amend: On Motherhood and its Ghosts) in 2017, and Fee Athar Enayat Al Zayyat (In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat) in 2019. Her book, Mamar Moetem Yasloh fee Talom Al Raks (A Dark Path Suitable for Learning to Dance), is one of the most important poetry books issued by the generation of the nineties in Arabic poetry.
Mizouni Bannani
Professor of Education Sciences at the Higher Institute for Applied Studies in Humanities in Sbeitla, Tunisia. Bannani won the Regional Creativity Prize for Child Literature in Kasserine in 1999. He published two collections of short stories entitled Humma Al Ardh (The Fever of the Earth) in 1989, and Mawawil Aaed men Dhefat Al Nar (Mawawil of the One who Returned from the Shore of Fire) in 1996, in addition to a novel entitled Doroob Al Hawan (Paths of Humiliation). He also published a group of literary works for children and teens, including Sorah Laysat Kalswar (A Picture Like No Other), and Turab Al Watab (The soil of the homeland), Rehlat Fannan (An Artist's Journey) and others. Bennani works as a literary and artistic consultant at Al Moanasah Publishing House, and has participated in establishing the branch of the Union of Tunisian Writers in Kasserine in 1997 and chaired it until 2017.
Dr. Asma Al-Ahmadi
A Saudi academic and critic, winner of the Sharjah Prize for Gulf Women's Creativity 2019. Dr. Al-Ahmadi holds a PhD in Philosophy - Specialising in Arabic Language and Literature, and she is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Islamic Culture and Language Skills in the College of Science and Arts - King Abdulaziz University. She published her book Eshkalyat Al Thaat Al Saredah Fee Al Rwayah Al Nesaayah Al Saudiah (The Problems of the Narrated Self in the Saudi Feminist Novel (1999 - 2012) (Critical Study) in 2020, and Thaherat Al Raheel fee Al Qessah Al Qaserah fee Al Mamlakah Al Arabiah Al Saudiah (The Phenomenon of Departure in the Short Story in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Artistic Study) in 2013, in addition to a collection of stories entitled Baynahma Barzakh (Between them is an Isthmus..) in 2017, and worked on a number of refereed scientific research and literary posts, and other texts and studies published in local and Arab newspapers and magazines.
Khelil Gouia
Professor of aesthetics, art theories and semiology of the image at the Higher Institute of Arts of the University of Sfax, Tunisia. He holds a PhD in arts sciences and techniques, specialising in art theories and history, as well as a professorial degree in philosophy from the University of Tunis, and an in-depth studies certificate in the history of modern art (ISBAT). His published books include Tashkeel Al Roya (The Formation of the Vision), Omarat Al Roya (The Architecture of the Vision), Bonyat Al Thaeykah wa Soltat Al Namothaj (The Structure of Taste and the Authority of the Model), Al Aamal Al Fanny wa Tahwolatoh bayn Al Nathar wa Al Natharyah (Artwork and Its Transformations between Theory and Theory, An Attempt in the Constructivism of Looking) and Masar Al Tahdeeth fe Al Fonoon Al Tashkelyah, men Al Orsomah ella Al Lawha (The Path of Modernisation in the Visual Arts, From Drawing to Painting). He also supervised the issuance of some scientific artistic books at Bayt Al Hekmah in Carthage, and contributed to editing the ‘Tunisian Encyclopedia’ on cultural history and the arts. He also contributed to launch a number of annual events, festivals and seminars related to fine arts.
Dr. Saeed El-Masry
Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, and an advisor to the Minister of Culture on the development of the cultural system in Egypt. Dr. El-Masry is a cultural anthropologist and holds a PhD in sociology. He won the United Nations Award for Excellence in Human Development in 2013 for the Egypt Human Development Report, which he participated in preparing in 2010. He also won the Arab Grand Prize for Heritage for the book Eaadat Entaj Al Turath Al Shaaby; Kayfa Yatshabath Al Fokaraa Belhayat fee thel Al Nodra (Reproduction of Folklore; How the {oor cling to life in light of Scarcity) in 2014. He has published many scientific books, the most recent of which were Al Tafrah Al Shabaya wa Al Tahwlat Al Dempghrafyah fee Al Alam Al Araby (The Youth Boom and Demographic Transformations in the Arab world), Azmat Al Majal Al Deeny fee Masr (The Crisis of the Religious Sphere in Egypt), Malhamat Al Mwatanah bayn Sokook Al Watanayah was Awlamat Al Hokok Al Insanyah (The Saga of Citizenship between Nationalism and the Globalization of Human Rights), Maazak Al Adalah Al Thagafyah fee Masr (The Dilemma of Cultural Justice in Egypt), and Turath Al Iste’ela’a bayn Al Folklor wa Al Majal Al Deeny (Legacy of Supremacy between Folklore and Religion).
Michael Cooperson
An American author and translator, Cooperson studied at Harvard University and the American University of Cairo, and is currently a professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published two monographs on early Abbasid cultural history: ‘Classical Arabic Biography’ and ‘Al-Ma'mun’. In addition to Impostures, he has translated Abdelfattah Kilito's ‘L'Auteur et ses doubles (The Author and his Doubles)’ and Ibn al-Jawzi's ‘Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal)’. His other interests include Maltese language and culture.
Prof. Tahera Qutbuddin
A Professor of Arabic Literature at the University of Chicago, and serves on the editorial board of NYU Abu Dhabi’s Library of Arabic Literature. She obtained her PhD and MA from Harvard University, USA, Tamhidi Magister and BA from Ain Shams University, Cairo, and high school diploma from Sophia College, Mumbai. Her research focuses on intersections of the literary, the religious, and the political in classical Arabic poetry and prose. Her recent publications include ‘Arabic Oration: Art and Function’ released in 2019, ‘Light in the Heavens: Sayings of the Prophet Muḥammad’ released in 2016, and ‘A Treasury of Virtues: Sayings, Sermons, and Teachings of ʿAlī’ released in 2013). She has received fellowship support from the Franke Institute of Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.
Rasha al Ameer of Dar Al Jadeed
Dar Al Jadeed is a strictly cultural project that pursues genuine skills and talents looking to be discovered and published in isolation from ideological considerations and partisanship. Bearing in mind the importance of science books to knowledge and the progress of a society, as well as the cultivation of rational, mythology-free knowledge.