Projected graphics on the stage of the Sharjah International Book Fair opening, that includes recognition of the fair’s award winners. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Also see:
UAE: Registration Opens for the 2024 Sharjah Publishers Conference
Sheikh Zayed Book Award Invites International Submissions
Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Zayed Book Award Opens 2024-2025 Submissions
Sharjah Announces 11th International Library Conference for November
UAE: Sharjah Signs Morocco as Its International Book Fair Guest of Honor
Deadline for Submission: August 31
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the Sharjah International Book Fair (November 6 to 17) includes a suite of awards that honor both Emirati and regional work and, in several cases, international literature.
Today (August 5), we have information on three key international awards of potential relevance to our world publishing readership. All three have August 31 as a deadline for submission.
- The award for an International Fiction Book carries a purse of 50,000 United Arab Emirates dirhams (US$13,613).
- The award for an International Nonfiction Book carries the same, a purse of 50,000 UAE dirhams.
- And the third award, for an international publishing house, carries 25,000 UAE dirhams (US$6,806).
Submissions, organizers tell us, can be made at the Sharjah International Book Fair Site. A tab for awards is on the site’s home page. We recommend you click into “Sharjah Award for the Best International Book” and “The Sharjah Publisher Recognition Award.”
Submission Guidelines
Sharjah’s Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi speaks at the opening of the Sharjah International Book Fair 2023, to which winners of the SIBF awards were invited. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
Those submitting are advised that nominees for the fiction and nonfiction books must be:
- Books that are new and unique in their field
- Written in English
- Published within the past two years prior to the (November) start of the fair
- Not revised editions
- Not winners of one of these prizes within the past two years
Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri
The cash award for each of the winning titles is divided between the author and her or his publishing house. The recognition, however, goes to the author.
There are several other stipulations, and as with all competitions, the nominator should read those points carefully.
As for the publisher award, the international publishing house honor is accompanied by an award for an Arab publisher and one for a local publisher, each of these three accolades carrying 25,000 dirhams.
Winners are honored as the Sharjah International Book Fair opens (November 6), and those chosen to receive an award will be invited to attend.
Image: Sharjah International Book Fair
The extensive awards program was created by Sharjah’s Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, and Sheikh Sultan in many years’ fair openings has personally handed the awards to their recipients, assisted by Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, CEO of the Sharjah Book Authority, which is chaired by the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi and produces the fair and its awards.
Those who work in translation will also note on the site an explanation of the Turjuman Award from Sharjah, which pays 1.4 million dirhams (US$381,1590.
Of that, 100,000 dirhams (US$17,115) goes to the translator and the remainder of the prize goes to the Arabic and international publishers of the winning book, 70 percent to the international publishing house that holds the translation rights for the winning book, and 30 percent to the Arab publishing house that holds the publishing rights for the first edition of the winning book.
Again, more information is on the fair’s site.
More from Publishing Perspectives on book and publishing awards is here, more on Sharjah and the Sharjah International Book Fair is here, and more on book publishing in the United Arab Emirates is here.