Abu dhabi: The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has released the longlists for the Literature, Young Author, Children's Literature, and Editing of Arabic Manuscripts categories for its 20th edition (2025-2026), selected by the judging panels and now under evaluation.

According to Emirates News Agency, the award received more than 4,000 submissions from 74 countries, including 21 Arab nations and 53 others, with Chile, Iceland, and Luxembourg participating for the first time. The results highlight the award's expanding global recognition.

The Literature category attracted the highest number of submissions, followed by Young Author and Children's Literature. Other categories included Literary and Art Criticism, Contribution to the Development of Nations, Translation, Arab Culture in Other Languages, Editing of Arabic Manuscripts, Publishing and Technology, and Cultural Personality of the Year.

This edition recorded a twelve percent rise in women's participation, an eighty percent increase in entries from cultural and research institutions, and a sixteen percent rise in submissions from non-Arab countries.

The longlist for the Literature category features 11 titles from eight countries: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, and Lebanon, including works such as "The Tear of Granada," "Nightly Archery," "Births in the Zoo," and "A Swiss Summer."

Eight titles were longlisted for Young Author from Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan, spanning critical studies, creative works, theses, and poetry. Listed works include "Scent of the Lone Tree," "My Undying Butterfly," and "The Companion: A Book About Books."

The Children's Literature longlist comprises nine titles from Egypt, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iraq, the UAE, and Tunisia, with entries such as "Dark Web," "Lulwa's Summer," "A Tiny Problem," and "Suns of My Country."

The Editing of Arabic Manuscripts category includes eight titles from Syria, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Tunisia, featuring classical texts and scholarly studies, including "Kitab al-Fawz," "Martyrium Arethae Arabice," "Encyclopaedia of World Religions," and "Kitab ?ayf al-Khayal."

Further longlists for remaining categories will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is an independent annual award recognising excellence in literature, the arts, and the humanities. It supports translation and promotes intercultural dialogue.

Established in 2006 to honour the legacy of the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the award is organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre with support from the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, offering a total prize pool of AED7,750,000 million.