The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA), presented by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), has revealed the shortlists for its 20th edition (2025–2026). The selected literary works include those by authors from Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Jordan among many others.
The selections span diverse categories, including Literature, Young Author, Translation, Literary and Art Criticism, Arab Culture in Other Languages, Manuscripts, Encyclopaedias and Lexicons, and Publishing and Technology. These distinguished works exemplify the breadth and diversity of creative and scholarly achievement from around the world.
The Scientific Committee approved the shortlists following a thorough review of the reports submitted by the specialised judging panels.
The shortlist for the Literature category includes three works: Births in the Zoo by Ashraf Elashmawy (Egypt), published by Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah in 2024; Fourrure by Nizar Abdulsattar (Iraq), published by Hachette Antoine Naufal in 2024; and Secret of the Al Za‘farana by Badriah Albeshr (Saudi Arabia), published by Dar Elshorouq in 2025.
The shortlist for the Young Author category includes Plots and Characters: A Rhetorical Argumentative Approach to the Arabic Novel by Mustapha Rajouane (Morocco), published by Kunouz Al Ma’refa Publishing and Distribution in 2025; The Companion: A Book About Books by Omar Zakaria (Jordan), published by Elharf Publications in 2024; and My Undying Butterfly by Alaa Alqatrawi (Palestine), published by the Arab Institute for Research and Publishing in 2025.
In the Translation category, the shortlist includes four works. These are Contrariness in Classical Arabic Literature: Beautifying the Ugly and Uglifying the Beautiful by Abu Mansur al-Thaʿalibi, translated from Arabic into English by Geert Jan van Gelder (Netherlands) and published by Brill in 2024; Traité de l’Argumentation (The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation) by Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, translated from French into Arabic by Dr Mohamed El Ouali (Morocco) and published by Dar Alkitab Aljadeed Almuttahida in 2023; Smorgasbords of Andalusi and Maghribi Dishes and Their Salutary Benefits by Nawal Nasrallah (Iraq/USA), an Arabic–English translation of the thirteenth-century cookbook Anwāʿ al-Ṣaydala fī Alwān al-Aṭʿima, published by Brill in 2025; and A Demon Spirit: Arabic Hunting Poems by al-Hasan ibn Haniʾ Abū Nuwās, translated from Arabic into English by James E. Montgomery (United Kingdom) and published by the Library of Arabic Literature, New York University Press, in 2024.
The shortlist for the Literary and Art Criticism category includes three works: Foundations of the Arabic Linguistic Theory by Ramzi Mounir Baalbaki (Lebanon), published by the American University of Beirut Press in 2025; Perceiving the World: Mutual Stereotypes Between the Self and the Other by Zuhair Tawfiq (Jordan), published by Alaan Publishers and Distributors in 2025; and News and Eyewitness Accounts: Towards a New Conception of Perspective and Point of View in the Storytelling Arts by Dr Ahmed Gasmi (Tunisia), published by Latrach Édition in 2024.
The shortlist for the Arab Culture in Other Languages category includes four works: The Emergence of Arabic Poetry: From Regional Identities to Islamic Canonisation by Nathaniel A. Miller (United States), published in English by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2024; Der arabische Diwan: Die schönsten Gedichte aus vorislamischer Zeit (The Arabic Diwan: The Most Beautiful Poems from the Pre-Islamic Era) by Stefan Weidner (Germany), published in German by Die Andere Bibliothek in 2024; Le concept arabe de murūʾa: Vers une éthique de l’excellence dans la culture arabe classique (The Arab Concept of Murūʾa: Towards an Ethics of Excellence in Classical Arab Culture) by Salah Natij (France), published in French by Brill in 2025; and Prendi, aggiungi, mescola e scrivi: ricettari arabi sulla preparazione di inchiostri (Take, Add, Mix and Write: Arabic Recipe Books on the Preparation of Inks) by Sara Fani (Italy), published in Italian by Editrice Bibliografica in 2023.
The shortlist for the Manuscripts, Encyclopaedias and Lexicons category includes specialised scholarly works and an encyclopaedia: Al-Muʾnis fī Akhbār Ifrīqiyya wa-Tūnis edited by Prof. Dr Ahmed Elbahi (Tunisia), published by Souhnoun Edition Diffusion in 2025; Encyclopaedia of World Religions (six volumes) by Prof. Dr Mohamed Elkhosht (Egypt), published by Mohamed Bin Zayed University for Humanities in 2025; Martyrium Arethae Arabice (The Martyrdom of Arethas in Arabic), edited by Paolo La Spisa (Italy), published by Harrassowitz Verlag in 2021; and The Dīwān of Abū al-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī and His Anecdotes, edited by Ebraheem Mohammad Hamad Albatshan (Saudi Arabia), published by the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language in 2023.
The shortlist for the Publishing and Technology category includes the Emirates Literature Foundation (UAE), Iqraaly – Arabic Audiobooks (Egypt), and Dar Al Adab (Lebanon). This year, the Award withheld selection under the Children’s Literature and Contribution to the Development of Nations categories.
The Award received more than 4,000 submissions from 74 nations, including 21 Arab countries and 53 non-Arab nations, with first-time participation from Chile, Iceland and Luxembourg.
The wide participation reflects the Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s expanding international reach, its increasing prominence on the global cultural stage, and its role as a preeminent platform supporting creativity and cross-cultural dialogue.
The shortlisting process was conducted over a series of meetings chaired by Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the ALC and Secretary-General of the SZBA Scientific, and attended by committee members Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Executive Director of the ALC, Juergen Boos (Germany), Dr Nadia El Cheikh (Lebanon), and Mustafa Al Slaiman (Jordan), Dr Khaled Al Masri (Jordan/USA), Dr Reem Bassiouney (Egypt), Dr Moneera Al Ghadeer (Saudi Arabia), and Dr Mehmet Hakki Suçin (Türkiye).
The shortlists were endorsed in strict accordance with established academic standards and the SZBA’s institutional framework. This rigorous process solidifies the Award’s position as a leading global cultural platform, one that recognises knowledge and creative achievement while actively promoting cultural dialogue and intellectual openness.
