Sheikh Zayed Book Award Literature Award Winner

Dr Reem Bassiouney is an Egyptian author, as well as a professor and chair of the linguistics department at the American University in Cairo since 2013. She previously worked as an assistant professor of linguistics at Georgetown University (2007-2013) and as a lecturer of linguistics at the University of Utah (2005-2007), in addition to teaching at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge (2002-2005), and serving as a member of the judging panels for the Excellence in Literature Award 2024 from the Supreme Council of Culture, as well as the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) in 2023.

Dr Bassiouney holds a PhD in sociolinguistics from the University of Oxford (2002), a master’s degree in sociolinguistics from the University of Oxford (1998), and a bachelor’s degree in English from Alexandria University (1994).

She has garnered acclaim by notable critics from Egypt, other Arab countries, and around the world. Dr Bassiouney has authored a collection of novels, which were all published in several editions. Most of her works topped the best-seller list and were translated by Dr Roger Allen, who also worked on the novels of the great Naguib Mahfouz.

An Egyptian novelist with a passion for experimentation, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Alexandria University. He is the deputy editor-in-chief of Cairo's Radio and Television magazine. He started writing early, publishing his first book of stories in 1995. He has published many books between novels and story collections. He has received many awards.

He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Cairo University and works as a journalist for a number of Egyptian and Arabic newspapers and as a programme author. He is the author of three novels: "What Remains of the Sun" (2020), "Maktoob" (2021) and "Gambling in Honour of Lady Mitzi" (2023), which was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize.

An Egyptian author and engineer, born in Cairo in 1978, graduated from the Faculty of Construction Engineering at the American University in Cairo in June 2001, received his MBA from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, Young Author Branch, in 2018. He won the Best Novel Award at the Cairo International Book Fair 2019.

Omani poet and novelist. He received the Cultural Creativity Award from the Omani Society of Authors and Authors in 2015 and the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2023. He is the first Omani novelist to receive this award.

A Kuwaiti author and novelist, he won the sixth edition of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2013 for his novel The Bamboo Stalk, which won the State of Kuwait's State Prize for Encouragement in 2012. It was selected from amongst 133 novels submitted for the award.

Sudanese author, novelist, journalist, and engineer. She was born in Sudan. She currently resides between the United Arab Emirates and Canada. She studied and graduated from the Eastern Mediterranean University in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering. She works as a media professional, lecturer, and trainer in the field of management and human development. She is also a graduate of the Abu Dhabi Poetry Academy.

An Egyptian poet, journalist, and novelist, born in 1973, he holds a Master's degree in Media Sciences from Cairo University's Faculty of Media. He has been working in Arab cultural journalism since 1996 and is the managing editor of the Abu Dhabi-based magazine "Heritage". He has won several awards, including the Sawiris Prize for the best theatre script for the play "72 Hours of Amnesty" (2015) and the Sharjah Arab Creativity Award.

Novelist from Egypt

A chemical engineer, geophysics trainer and Emirati author, she graduated from the American University of Sharjah and received a Cultural Diplomacy Diploma in 2017 from Berlin. She has published two novels and three-story collections. Her novel, Guardian of the Sun, won the 2016 Emirates Novel Award, and she is the first Emirati to be selected by the University of Iowa in the United States of America for a fellowship in creative writing.

Ashraf El Ashmawy is an Egyptian judge and novelist born in 1966. He is the author of more than ten novels to date: Toya, which was longlisted for the World Booker Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2012.