The “Café Riche” by Maisoon Saqer, Sheikh Zayed Prize for Literature

Emirati novelist and poet Maisoon Saqer won the 2022 Sheikh Zayed Prize for her book Maq’ha Reesh, Aïn Ala Massr (“A Look at Egypt: The Rich Coffee”) published by Nahdet Misr Publishing in 2021. The story-investigation focuses on a legendary café in Cairo, at the heart of social, political and cultural life in 20th century Egypt. Through the colorful prism of this café, which is very popular with writers and artists, Maisoon Saqer retraces the history of modern Egypt and tells the story of a place in full transformation.

In the young author category, the prize was awarded to Tunisian Mohammad al-Maztouri for Al-Badawa fi al-She’er al-Arabi al-Qadeem (“Bedouinism in ancient Arabic poetry”) published by the Faculty of Literature from the University of Manouba and the GLD Foundation in 2021. This critical study explores the influence of nomadism in ancient Arabic poetry, examining in particular how the imagery of the Arabic desert translates into poetic form and how poets transcended stereotypical images of the desert as barren land.

Syrian author Maria Daadoush received the Children’s Literature Prize for Loghz al-Kora al-Zujajiya (“The Mystery of the Glass Ball”) published by Dar al-Saqi in 2021. This book tells the story regarding a 12-year-old boy who accompanies his grandfather on a train journey through the desert and embarks on a series of thrilling adventures, battling criminals bent on destroying the ecological life of an oasis.

For the publishing and technology category, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt) was awarded. This state-of-the-art library and cultural center houses millions of books in multiple languages. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award recognizes, in particular, the extensive resources of the library, such as its digital archives that serve the needs of readers around the world, and its “Embassies of Knowledge” initiative which includes branches in Egyptian universities, providing resources to students and researchers without having to travel to Alexandrina headquarters. The library not only provides books and journals, but also publishes unique works and offers a program of workshops led by leading scholars, in person and online, thus enriching Arab culture and promoting it in the whole world.

Iraqi-American Muhsin J. al-Musawi also won the prize in the Arabic culture in another language category for his book The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures: Global Commodification, Translation, and the Culture Industry published by Cambridge University. Press in 2021 (United States). Musawi examines the enduring popularity of the Arabian Nights among writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and philosophers, from Marcel Proust to Walt Disney, considering their appropriation in the context of colonial legacies.

Egyptian Ahmad Aladawi was honored for his English-to-Arabic translation of George Makdisi’s The Rise of Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West.

The books awarded this year by the Sheikh Zayed literary prize. Photo DR

The prize for literary and artistic criticism went to al-Sarid wa Taw’am al-Rooh: Min al-Tamtheel ila al-Istinaa’ (“The narrator and the soul mate: from comedy to imposture”) by Moroccan author Mohammad Aldahi.

The award committee highlighted in a statement the record number of more than 3,000 nominations from 55 countries.

The winners in all categories will be honored at a ceremony on May 24 live from the Louvre Abu Dhabi, at the time of the inauguration of the International Book Fair and will be awarded a gold medal, a certificate of merit and a sum of 193,700 euros each.

The personality of the year, who will be revealed in May, will receive a gold medal, a certificate of merit and a sum of 258,000 euros.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the Arab world, under the aegis of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center, is also taking the initiative to provide financial assistance for translation which will be granted to international publishers (with particular encouragement to French publishers) to translate from Arabic into foreign languages ​​not only the works awarded the prize in the literature and children’s literature categories, but also the finalists of the said categories.

Emirati novelist and poet Maisoon Saqer won the 2022 Sheikh Zayed Prize for her book Maq’ha Reesh, Aïn Ala Massr (“A Look at Egypt: The Rich Coffee”) published by Nahdet Misr Publishing in 2021. The story-investigation focuses on a legendary café in Cairo, at the heart of social, political and cultural life in Egypt in the 20th century…