Over the course of the next month, the shortlists for most of the major categories will be announced.
The winners will be revealed in April, with an award ceremony to follow at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on May 11 as part of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
The winners of each category will receive Dh750,000, and there is also a Dh1 million prize for the Cultural Personality of the Year.
Out of almost 100 regional authors who made the longlist announced last year, three writers are from the UAE. They told us they were honoured to be considered for an award that is associated with the father of the nation.
Kareem Matouq
Book title: Qastara
Category: Literature
The Emirati poet’s inclusion on the longlist of one of the Arab world’s most esteemed prizes comes of no surprise to lovers of regional literature.
After winning the inaugural season of the television talent show Prince of Poets in 2007, Matouq went on to become a full-time writer and has contributed to newspapers and magazines, including Zahrat Al Khaleej (published by Abu Dhabi Media, which also owns The National). Despite an interest in opinion pieces and articles, Matouq says poetry is his first love.
“There is such depth to it that it allows me many ways to say what I want to express,” he says.
“It is my real passion and something that I am continuously trying to improve on. The work really never ends.”
The Abu Dhabi resident has been refining his craft for more than a decade – his nominated work, Qastara, is his 16th book. The compilation contains new works in addition to previously published poetry.
Matouq says the new material is a continuation of his renowned blend of poetry, the subjects of which range from domestic to patriotic issues.
While pleased simply to make the longlist, he says he hopes Qastara wins the award as it would help him to achieve his goal of reaching a wider audience.
“At the end of the day, this is all a writer really wants,” he says. “Right now, with the longlist, I am acknowledged by my peers but the general public are mostly interested in winners. That’s when they are interested in reading your work.”
Amira Al Marzouqi
Book title: Waraqet al Hayat
Category: Children’s Literature
As an editor with the National Archive in Abu Dhabi, Amira Al Marzouqi says education has always been at the heart of her work.
However, it was her debut children's book Waraqet al Hayat (The Leaf of Life), that earned her a nomination for a Sheikh Zayed Book Award, in the Children's Literature category.
“I am extremely pleased with the nomination, particularly because it has the name of Sheikh Zayed,” she says. “For the past few years, no Emirati has been nominated in this category, so this a proud moment for me and also, generally, very important.”
Al Marzouqi puts the dearth of Emirati children’s authors down to a lack of role models in the industry. Unlike the poetry genre and the burgeoning adult-fiction field, there are no big regional children’s authors from the UAE, although that may soon change with the growing success of the author Maitha Al Khayat.
“I would describe our children’s-literature field as shallow,” says Al Marzouqi. “But that is generally down to a lack of direction as opposed to talent, because that is definitely there.”
Waraqet al Hayat tells the story of a young girl who finds a leaf that fell from a tree and places it on her bookshelf, where it grows miraculously and becomes a tree in the garden, under which the community gathers to read together.
“The book is really about encouraging people to read,” Al Marzouqi says. “The message is about how through reading you will always be reinvigorated.”
Muhra bint Ahmad
Book title: Krakato
Category: Young Author
The idea for Muhra bint Ahmad’s acclaimed debut novel began with a question: who has the healthiest mind?
The result was Krakato, a Paulo Coelho-esque tale that features the main character coming to terms with his inner demons.
Ahmad – who is involved in humanitarian work in her native Ras Al Khaimah and is a voluntary writing instructor – says she has always been in love with the written world. “If life is like an ocean where we are in fear of drowning, writing has always been the vessel that kept me afloat,” she says. “If it wasn’t for that I would feel suffocated.”
As part of a new generation of Emirati writers, Ahmad says the award is more than just a competition. “Sheikh Zayed has also become more than a name for us,” she says. “It is something we live with and feel deep inside. For us, Zayed is a philosophy, an example and hope.”
Visit www.zayedaward.ae for more information
sasaeed@thenational.ae
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Queen
Nicki Minaj
(Young Money/Cash Money)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
UAE%20set%20for%20Scotland%20series
%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20will%20host%20Scotland%20for%20a%20three-match%20T20I%20series%20at%20the%20Dubai%20International%20Stadium%20next%20month.%3Cbr%3EThe%20two%20sides%20will%20start%20their%20Cricket%20World%20Cup%20League%202%20campaigns%20with%20a%20tri-series%20also%20involving%20Canada%2C%20starting%20on%20January%2029.%3Cbr%3EThat%20series%20will%20be%20followed%20by%20a%20bilateral%20T20%20series%20on%20March%2011%2C%2013%20and%2014.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
More on Palestine-Israeli relations
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
INDIA SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
