Haruki Murakami speaks at the 2025 Sheikh Zayed Book Awards’ ceremony in Abu Dhabi. Murakami was made Cultural Personality of the Year by the program in this, its 19th edition. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
A High-Profile Zayed Award Ceremony
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In addition, the intensely popular Lebanese author Hoda Barakat was on-hand to accept the Literature Award for her novel Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, published by Dar Aladab in 2024. Like Murakami, Barakat speaks to a certain, unusual level of popular appeal to this year’s Zayed Award list.
This, under the patronage of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, and in the presence of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, minister of tolerance and coexistence, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award drew new attention to its ever-larger pools of submissions and its competition-beating cash awards for responsible, significant selections.
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the winner of the Cultural Personality of the Year award is presented with a gold medal, a certificate of appreciation, and a prize of 1 million United Arab Emirates dirhams (US$272,286), while each winner in the other categories receives a prize of 750,000 dirhams (US$204,215), along with gold medal and a certificate of appreciation, “in honor of their outstanding creative and intellectual contributions.”
For all that, there’s a certain trend in the arc of these awards toward academic writings and the keen talents of the university world—in which, of course, Arabic holds enormous regard and respect, as well it should. In terms of one of its missions, however—an elevation of Arabic to a far higher point of recognition and readership on the world level—an emphasis on the academy limits per force the range of readership and sheer audience mass that the international industry of genuinely respected and popular literature can offer.
Murakami is a ready example of just how many international heads one might turn for an Arabic-based award and for the world engagement of the Arabic readership in such a high-profile popular figure among writers. And Barakat is certainly cheered in the Arab world even before echoes of congratulation reach her home in Paris and her agent Pierre Astier there. (You’ll find our interview with Barakat, from her 2019 win of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for The Night Mail is here.)
To put it plainly, Murakami and Barakat are rock stars. And there is great value in the finest of rock stars.
These two figures’ sheer head-turning clout bring the deeply honorable Sheikh Zayed Book Award program some of the recognition it’s due but which normally might be found on campuses and in libraries through the labors of the Scientific Committee, Abu Dhabi’s department of tourism and culture, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, and the faithful Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, who leads both the Zayed Prize and the Language Centre.
Murakami: ‘Connecting Human Hearts’
In speaking to the packed ceremony venue today at Abu Dhabi’s National Exhibition Center, Murakami, speaking in Japanese, said:
“I have always believed that stories constitute the universal language. They are just seeds carried by the wind, scattered across the world. Whenever they land, they take root in people’s hearts, transcend, transcending cultural and linguistic boundaries to beautiful flowers.
“I have always believed that stories constitute the universal language. They are just seeds carried by the wind, scattered across the world.”Haruki Murakami“A young boy in Japan who grew up reading 1001 Nights may come to know the joy of storytelling, and perhaps maybe he himself would grow to become a writer himself.
“Regrettably, our world remains troubled and divided with conflicts that breed hatred and suffering. As a novelist, my sincere hope is that through the sharing of positive stories, however small their impact might be, that they would contribute in the human heart, connecting human hearts, one with the other, and that this in turn, may contribute, if even in a modest way, to move the world towards peace.”
Bin Tamim: ‘Integrity and Honesty
Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, secretary general of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, speaks at the 2025 edition ceremony. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
In his comments, some of which made reference to genre selections of this year’s Zayed winners, Bin Tamim told his invited audience:
“In the dawning of light and tragedy, we celebrate the addition of a new group of creators and thinkers honored by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in its 19th edition. More than 4000 participants or entries that have partaken in the award from 75 countries, including 20 Arab countries, and 55 countries from many parts of the world.
“The award since its launch in 2006 has had more than 33,000 nominations from 1,039 publishing houses in 80 countries. And by translating winning works into 10 languages, it has provided us with 136 winners, both men and women, who are among the finest minds.”Dr. Ali Bin Tamim“They have been selected, according to governance, for integrity and honesty.
“These are the standards that have earned the Sheikh Zayed Book Award its prominent position.
“The award since its launch in 2006 has had more than 33,000 nominations from 1,039 publishing houses in 80 countries. And by translating winning works into 10 languages, it has provided us with 136 winners, both men and women, who are among the finest minds. They are aware of the impact of the world and tell the narratives of their communities to the world in order to get to know one another better and to have better co-existence.
“We meet today with this title, hand-in-hand, in this year 2025 —the year of society, the year of reading, the year of knowledge, of scientific community, of the book. This has become a beacon for us, and we are proud that winning works that Sheikh Zayed Award winning works are an additional [resource], an addition that we are proud of, that shows noble morals and values, taking into consideration society issues with care and creativity.”
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award Winners’ List, 19th Edition
Hoda Barakat, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award Literature Award winner for 2025, speaks with the news media before the start of the 19th edition ceremony. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
Literature
Hoda Barakat did not speak during the ceremony. It is the tradition that on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award winners’ stage, that the main category recipients do not speak during the presentation.
Lebanese/French author Hoda Barakat wins the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Literature category for her novel Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, published by Dar Aladab in 2024.
Children’s Literature
Moroccan writer Latifa Labsir wins the Children’s Literature category for her book The Phantom of Sabiba, released by Markaz Kitab in 2024.
Translation
In the Translation category, Marco Di Branco from Italy wins for his translation from Arabic to English of Orosius by Paulus Orosius, published by Pisa University Press in 2024.
Literary and Art Criticism
Said Laouadi from Morocco receives the award in the Literary and Art Criticism category for his book Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arab Heritage published in 2023 by Afrique Orient.
Contribution to the Development of Nations
The Contribution to the Development of Nations category sees the Emirati scholar Mohammed Bechari win for his book The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Women’s Rights, issued in 2024 by Nahdet Misr Publishing.
Arab Culture in Other Languages
United Kingdom researcher Andrew Peacock wins in the Arab Culture in Other Languages category for his book Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, published by Brill in 2024.
Editing of Arabic Manuscripts
In the Editing of Arabic Manuscripts category, the SZBA goes to Rasheed Alkhayoun from Iraq and United Kingdom for his critical edition of the book News of Women, published by the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies in 2024.
Cultural Personality of the Year
The 19th edition of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award honors Japanese author Haruki Murakami as Cultural Personality of the Year, in recognition of his creative career and widespread literary influence, unbound by borders, impacting both Arab and Western cultures.
Five first-time country-participants were engaged: Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mali.
The 19th edition Sheikh Zayed Book Award winners at the April 29 ceremony on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award is here, more on the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center is here, more on Arabic literature is here, and more on translation is here. More from us on publishing and book awards in the international industry is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.