The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, SZBA, today announced its Literature Category Long List for its twelfth edition, consisting of 13 titles out of the 337 nominations which have been received in the category since last May.

The 337 nominations came mostly from Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Out of the 13 contending titles, the long list includes two works published by Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah, Cairo; ‘Khareef al-balad al-kabeer’ (The Autumn of The Big City) by Egyptian author Mahmoud al-Werwary, published in 2017, and ‘Yakfi annana ma’an’ (At Least We are Together) by Egyptian Ezzat el-kamhawi, published in 2017.

In addition, the list features two titles published by Nofal-Hachette Antoine, Beirut; ‘Ikhtibar al-nadam’ (Remorse Test) by Syrian novelist Khalil Sweileh (2017), and ‘Al-shaytan yoheb ahyanan’ (The Devil May Love Sometimes) by Saudi author Zainab Hifni, published in 2017.

Two titles on the list are published by Dar Al Saqi, Beirut; ‘Fi ‘ithr ghaymah’ (Tracing a Cloud) by Lebanese author Hassan Dawood, published in 2017, and ‘Al badawi al-sagheer’ (The Young Bedouin) by Saudi novelist Maqbul al-Alawi, published in 2016.

The remaining titles are; ‘Metro halab’ (Aleppo Metro) by Syrian/French novelist Maha Hasan, published by Dar al-Tanweer, Beirut, 2016, 'Anaqeed al-ratheelah' (Grapes of Vice) by Mauritanian novelist Ahmad Hafid, published by Arab Scientific Publishers Inc., Beirut, 2016, the literary biography ‘Bah’than ‘an al-sa’adah’ (In Pursuit of Happiness), by Tunisian author Hassouna Mosbahi, published by Editions Arabesques, Tunisia, 2017, ‘Fi souq al-sabaya’ (In the Market of Captive Women) by Iraqi/American novelist Dunya Mikhail, published by Almutawassit Books, Italy, 2017, ‘Al-shahed al-mash’houd’ (The Witnessed Witness) by Jordanian novelist Walid Saif, published by Al Ahliah Publications, Jordan, 2016, ‘Rehlat al-damm’ (The Blood Journey) by Egyptian author Ibrahim Eissa, published by Dar Al Karma, Cairo, 2016, and ‘Jano, ante hekayati’ (Jano, You are My Story) by Iraqi novelist Maysaloon Hadi, published by Dar Alhikma, London, 2017 Last week marked the conclusion of the award’s reading panels work. The panels reviewed a total of 1,250 nominations across all categories, with the Literature and Young Author categories leading for the fifth year in a row with the highest number of participations, 337 and 307 respectively.