A familiar view to Sharjah International Book Fair attendees, along one of the main concourses on the lagoon side of the Expo Sharjah complex. Image: SBA
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Deadline for Submission: September 15
As many awards programs do at this time of year, the 44th edition of Sharjah International Book Fair (November 5 to 16) is taking submissions for its 2025 awards, with a deadline of September 15.
Theses awards, parsed into several categories, honor various publishers and writers “who have contributed to the Arab and international cultural landscape through literary and academic works.”
Produced by Sharjah Book Authority—which is chaired by the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, with Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri as CEO—has announced the opening of the submissions period this week. The competition is of course one of the elements of Sharjah’s focus as a reading emirate, the concept of author-emir Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, ruler of the third state of the United Arab Emirates.
In many years’ presentations of the Sharjah fair, the announcement of these awards’ winners has formed a substantial part of the show’s lavish opening ceremonies, as authors are invited to the stage to meet Sheikh Sultan and share a few words on collecting their awards from him.
Sharjah Book Authority offers this roster of prizes as a part of the overall program’s goals of positioning Sharjah as an international center of publishing and other creative industries. Thanks to translation and international rights sales, of course, the winning books can become part of the literary and cultural contribution that the Arabic world and language offer to the rest of the world.
And these awards are lucrative, too. A combined purse of 625,000 UAE dirhams (US$170,183) is at stake for those entering their work.
The four main categories comprise:
- The Sharjah Award for Emirati Books,
- The Sharjah Award for Best Arabic Novel,
- The Sharjah Award for Best International Book, and
- The Sharjah Publisher Recognition Award.
In addition, there are four subcategories in the Emirati books competition, recognizing an Emirati novel, an Emirati academic book, an Emirati “creative literature” work—which is a theatrical text—and an Emirati first novel.
In the case of the Arabic Novel award, the program splits a cash prize of 150,000 UAE dirhams (US$40,844) between the winning book’s author and publisher, the intent being to recognize “originality, creativity, and critical engagement with contemporary issues in the Arab world.”
The International Book award is conferred on a book published in English. This win carries 100,000 UAE dirhams (US$27,229)—an amount divided between the subcategories of International Fiction and International Nonfiction.
The Publisher Recognition has three subcategories, the winner of each receiving 25,000 UAE dirhams (US$6,807). Those subcategories divide the publisher honor into a nod for Best Local Publishing House; Best Arab Publisher; and Best International Publisher.
Those interested in making submissions for the Sharjah awards will find a tab for Awards on the upper left-center of the show’s site.
Statistics From the 2024 Sharjah International Book Fair
A look at the huge rights-trading floor at the Sharjah Publishers Conference 2024, an event which precedes the opening of Sharjah International Book Fair. The 2025 edition of the Publishers Conference — the Sharjah International Book Fair’s professional program — is to run November 2 to 4. Image: SBA
The Sharjah fair’s claim to be the Arab world’s largest book fair by attendance figures is borne out each year as the turnout rises. In its 12-day 2024 edition, the Sharjah Book Authority reported a total 2.17 million visitors from 112 countries were at some point on the exhibition floor. The majority of those attendees, 63 percent, were placed in the commercially valued 25-to-44-years age demographic.
This public-facing show displayed some 1.3 million titles last year, and those books were on offer from 2oo2 exhibitors.
One of the most interesting figures from the 2024 fair is in the gender of attendees, with 53.66 percent of the Sharjah International Book Fair’s attendees being male, and 46.36 percent being female. In many parts of the world, women lead in book-buying and reading, while this fair-going statistic shows a small lead among men over women at Sharjah, an encouraging if anecdotal statistic at time when the importance of men reading has become more evident.
Student attendance, always a boisterous part of the show, reached 135,000 attendees in 2024.
Onstage in the ballroom facility at Sharjah International Book Fair 2024. Image: SBA
This year, Sharjah Book Authority will have its stand at Frankfurter Buchmesse in Hall 5.1, A13.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Sharjah International Book Fair is here, more on the book publishing industry of the United Arab Emirates is here, more on book fairs and trade shows in world publishing is here, and more on the many book and publishing awards in the world industry is here.
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