Whether one is interested in football, cinema, art or literature, it has been difficult in recent years to ignore the growing influence of the Middle East on world popular culture. Qatar has football, Saudi Arabia inaugurated its Red Sea International Film Festival in December in the presence of Catherine Deneuve and Thierry Frémaux… In the United Arab Emirates, a young federal state founded in 1971, while Dubai attracts influencers who praise the merits of the destination to their millions of subscribers on social networks, Abu Dhabi has its Louvre, its Sorbonne and its literary prize.
Created in 2006, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award (named after the founder of the federation, who died in 2004) intends “to highlight the most remarkable actors of Arab literature and culture”, explains by email the secretary general of the prize, Dr Ali Ben Tamim. “We wholeheartedly believe in the value of the circulation of knowledge across cultures, in the promotion of intercultural dialogue and in the exchange of points of view on the world. » Each year, in May, in the imposing setting of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, nine prizes are thus awarded to authors in various categories (literature, youth, Arab culture in another language, literary and artistic criticism, etc.) as well as to a “cultural personality of the year”.
Shadow areas
Led by the Arabic Language Center of Abu Dhabi, itself affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award distributes each year the trifle of 1.6 million euros in endowments (197,000 euros for each winning author and 270,000 euros for the personality of the year – which can also take the form of an institution, like the Institut du monde arabe, awarded in 2018). By way of comparison, let us recall that, while the December prize awards a check for 30,000 euros each year to its winner, the Goncourt prize, for its part, offers a symbolic 10 euros to reward his choice, while the Femina and Interallié prizes n offer nothing but fame (and additional sales).
“The scientific committee is totally free. » Floréal Sanagustin, researcher and member of the committee
As often with literary prizes, the operation, if it claims to be transparent, is not without gray areas. The selection of works in competition is thus entrusted to a scientific committee which appoints a group “cultural experts” to judge, anonymously, the books in the running. A researcher in Arabic studies at the University of Lyon-II, Floréal Sanagustin joined the scientific committee of the prize in 2021. Before that, he officiated for a few years as an “evaluator” responsible for selecting works in French on the Arab world which will be submitted. to the jury in the “translated books” category.
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