Emirates Novel Award announces winners

The Winners of the second cohort of the Emirates Novel Award were announced Thursday.

Ahmad al-Hammadi was named the first-place winner of the Award’s “Best Novel” category for his novel, “The Last Day”, while Nadia al-Najjar received first-place award in the “Best Short Novel” category for her novel, “Cities of Eagerness”.

Noura al-Kaabi, CEO of twofour54, said: “The Emirates Novel Award is an initiative that aims to promote Arabic literature, encourage creativity of local authors, and supplement the local cultural scene with distinct new talent,” according to a press release.

Winners were selected by members of a special jury and the winning novels will be published in time for print copies to be available at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair which is being held 7-10 May this year.

Jamal al-Shehhi, Secretary General of the Emirates Novel Award, commented: “The second cycle of the Emirates Novel Award has successfully attracted a large group of talented authors and we were pleased to witness the quality of writing and the variety of subjects in the works submitted.”