The Board of Trustees of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) has endorsed the list of winners for the Award’s 17th edition (2022-2023). The decision was made at the annual Board of Trustees meeting led by His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and attended by the members of the Board.

In attendance were HE Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Cultural Adviser to His Highness the President of the UAE; HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi); HE Saood Al Hosani, Undersecretary, DCT Abu Dhabi; HE Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Secretary General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC); and HE Abdulla Majed Al Ali, Director-General of the National Archives. The meeting was also attended by Abdulrahman Mohamed Alnaqbi, Literature Award Department Director at the ALC.

HE bin Tamim provided an overview of the submissions received for the current edition of the Award, reviewed the processes followed by the judging panels, and presented the recommended list of winners put forward by the SZBA Scientific Committee. The Board of Trustees endorsed the list, and the winners will be formally announced in April 2023. 

The SZBA Board of Trustees is the body responsible for setting the general policies and organisational structure of the Award and for any decision concerning its categories and/or winners. It oversees all the Award's activities and devises policies that help achieve its objectives.

Winners of the 17th SZBA will be honoured in a ceremony at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) as part of the 32nd Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, which will take place from 22-28 May. The recipient of the ‘Cultural Personality of the Year’ accolade will be presented with a gold medal and a certificate of merit, as well as an AED 1 million prize, while winners of other categories will each receive a gold medal, a certificate of merit, and prizes of AED 750,000.

The Award’s 17th edition saw impressive turnout from authors around the world, receiving more submissions across all nine categories than in any year since its launch, with a total of 3,151 applications submitted from 60 countries, including 22 Arab nations and 38 other countries around the world.

-End-