Hoda Barakat. Photo courtesy DR.
BEIRUT — The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, one of the most prestigious honors dedicated to Arab literature and culture, announced its 2025 winners on Tuesday.
Organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre under the Department of Culture and Tourism, the award is divided into eight categories and recognizes writers, academics, translators, cultural pioneers and institutions. The 19th edition honors authors from seven countries: France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Iraq, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.
Japanese author Haruki Murakami was named Cultural Personality of the Year for what organizers called his "immense literary influence" on the Arab literary world.
Other winners include Franco-Lebanese novelist Hoda Barakat (Literature), Moroccan children's book author Latifa Labsir (Children’s Literature), Italian translator Marco di Branco (Translation) and British academic Andrew Peacock (Arabic Culture in Another Language).
"It is both a great pride and joy to be associated with the name of Sheikh Zayed, a great personality in Middle Eastern history and a great humanist," Barakat told L'Orient-Le Jour. She was recognized in the Literature category for her novel "Hind or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World," published by Dar al-Adab in 2024.
The novel offers an intimate and deeply moving portrayal of a woman suffering from acromegaly, a rare disorder that alters physical appearance and profoundly impacts self-perception. With psychological depth and poetic sensitivity, Barakat explores themes of alienation, marginalization and the relentless pursuit of beauty and perfection. The work challenges societal standards of beauty and expectations imposed on women, while offering a meditation on human vulnerability and strength.
Born in Beirut in 1952, Barakat has lived in France since 1975, where her work is regularly published by Actes Sud. A Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters and of the National Order of Merit, she has previously been awarded several major literary prizes, including the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2000 in Cairo for "The Tiller of Waters;" the Al Owais Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2017 in Dubai for her entire body of work; and International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2019 in Abu Dhabi for "Night Mail."
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is one of the most prestigious and highly endowed literary awards in the Arab world. It aims to promote and honor intellectuals, researchers, authors, translators, publishers and institutions that have made significant contributions to literature, social sciences, culture and modern knowledge related to the Arab world.
Winners of all categories will be honored during a ceremony on April 28 at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
