Moroccan Writer Mohamed Aldahi Wins Sheikh Zayed Book Award

Rabat – Moroccan writer Mohamed Aldahi has won the 16th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the category of “Literary and Art Criticism” with his book “The Narrator and the Soulmate: From Acting to Faking.”

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced on Monday on Twitter the winners of the contest’s seven categories, noting the competition witnessed the participation of over 3,000 entries from 55 countries, including 20 Arab countries and 35 non-Arab countries.

Aldahi, who is a professor in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at Mohammed V University in Rabat, has published 15 books and won several literary contests, including the Karata Prize for Arabic Novel in 2021.

Emirati poet and novelist Maisoon Saqr won the “Literature” category for her work “Cafe Riche: Eye on Egypt,” whereas the “Children’s Literature” category award went to Syrian writer Maria Daadouch for her book “The Mystery of the Glass Ball.”

Tunisia’s Dr. Mohamed Al-Maztouri was awarded the “Young Author” prize for his book “Bedouinism in Ancient Arabic Poetry,” while Dr. Ahmed El-Aladawi from Egypt claimed the “Translation” category for translating the book “The Rise of Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West,” by George Makdisi, from English into Arabic.

Dr. Muhsin Al-Musawi from Iraq/United States won the “Arabic Culture in Other Languages” category for his book “The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures: Global Commodification, Translation, and the Culture Industry.”

The award for the “Publishing and Technology” category went to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. Established in 2002, the library contains millions of books in various languages, as well as a digital archive.

Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, undersecretary of Abu Dhabi’s department of culture and tourism and member of the Award’s board, congratulated the winners of the contest “whose works contributed to conveying an honorable image of the reality of Arab culture to the world.”

“Since its establishment in 2006, the Award has worked to consolidate its presence as one of the most prominent and prestigious literary and cultural awards in the region and around the world,” Al Hosani said, celebrating this year’s participants who “have added new creative achievements to Arabic literature.”

Ali bin Tamim, the president of the Abu Dhabi Center for the Arabic Language and Secretary-General of the award, said he was pleased with the “diversity, as well as the intellectual, linguistic, and creative richness” that the participants showed.