Sheikh Zayed Book Award Receives 1,616 Submissions Ahead of Deadline on 1 October

The Award’s Reading Panel Committee holds 21 Virtual Meetings to Evaluate this Year’s Submissions

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - 30 September, 2020: The Sheikh Zayed Book Award has announced that it has so far received 1,616 submissions for its 15th edition since the call for submissions commenced on 1 June this year. The ‘Young Author’ category has seen the highest number of submissions, with a rate of 29.34%, while ‘Literature’ has received 27.02% of the submissions.
 
The Award’s Reading Panel Committee has held 21 virtual meetings since the beginning of August, to review and study the submissions for the current edition and assess the extent to which the general conditions for submission have been met. The committee will continue to hold these virtual meetings until the end of October, in preparation for the announcement of longlists during November, which coincides with commencement of Judges’ evaluations.

“The Award’s Reading Panel Committee has been holding intensive and consecutive meetings to identify the eligible titles to be selected for the longlists across the Award’s nine categories. Following stringent scientific and objective principles, the Committee’s efforts are key in evaluating the merits of the submitted works, and their compliance with the Award’s regulations,” said HE Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Secretary General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center.  
 
The Reading Panel Committee is chaired by HE Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Secretary General of the Award and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, and includes Professor Dr. Khalil Al Shaikh of Jordan and Emirati literary critic and poet, Sultan Al Amimi, both members of the Award’s Scientific Committee, as well as Dr. Ali Al-Kaabi from the UAE.