The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) announced on Wednesday its long list in Literature, consisting of 12 titles out of 274 nominations received by the award since last May.

The 274 nominations came from 29 countries most of which were from Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, UAE, and Tunisia, in addition to Holland, Canada, Norway, U.K, Eritrea, Sweden, Australia and Belgium.

Out of the 12 contending titles, the long list includes three works published by Dar Al Saqi, Beirut; ‘Khareef al Bara’a’ (The Autumn of Innocence) by Lebanese author Abbas Beydoun, Published in 2016; ‘Muntaja’ al Saherat’ (The Witches’ Resort) by Sudanese writer Amir Tag Elsir, published in 2015; ‘Alwah’ (Tablets) by Lebanese author Rashid Al-Daif, published in 2016.

In addition, the list features two more titles published by Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah, Cairo; ‘’an Tuhibbaka Jihan’ (To be Loved by Jihan) by novelist Mekkawy Said – Egypt (2015).

‘Fi Fami Lu’lu’a’ (A Pearl in My Mouth) by Emirati author Maisoon Saqer, published in 2016.

Furthermore, two more titles on the list are published by Arab Cultural Center Publications in Casablanca; ‘Khayt al Rooh’ (The Soul’s Thread) by Moroccan scholar Mbarek Rabi, published in 2015.

‘Lu’bat al Mighzal’ (The Spinning Wheel Game) by the Eritrean novelist Haji Jabir, published in 2015.

In the previous weeks, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced its long lists for the following categories: Contribution to Development of Nations, Arts and Literary Criticism, Children’s Literature, Young Author and Translation. Further announcements on longlisted titles in the category of "Arabic Culture in Other Languages" will be made within the coming few weeks.