The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, has announced the shortlisted entries under the Literary and Art Criticism category for its 16th edition. The list of three works from Tunisia, Morocco, and Syria was compiled from a longlist of seven entries.

The shortlisted titles are: ‘Nahwa al Shawari’: Fi Raheel al Nahw ila al Shawari’’ (The Role of Street Grammar in Influencing Proper Grammar) by Dr. Taoufik Alaloui (Tunisia), issued by Med Ali Editions in 2021; ‘Al Sarid wa Taw’am al Rooh: Min al Tamtheel ila al Istinaa’ (The Narrator and the Soulmate: From Acting to Faking) by M'hamed Aldahi (Morocco), issued by Le Centre Culturel du Livre in 2021; and ‘Iqa’at al Ibdaa fi al Tabee’aa wal Fann’ (Rhythms of Creativity in Nature and Art) by Kamal Alkontar (Syria), issued by the Syrian General Authority for Books in 2019.

The Literary and Art Criticism category covers works of criticism in the fields of art, cinema, music, theatrical plays, studies of image, architecture, sculpture, historical ruins, folkloric arts, and history of literature and theory. The category received 273 submissions this year, marking a 37% increase from the 199 entries submitted in the previous year.

The winners of the 2022 Sheikh Zayed Book Award will be honoured in a ceremony in May, alongside the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The event will see the recipient of the Award’s Cultural Personality of the Year accolade presented with a gold medal and a certificate of merit, as well as a monetary prize of AED 1 million. Winners of other categories will each receive a gold medal as well, in addition to a certificate of merit and a monetary prize of AED 750,000.

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