Abu Dhabi, April 2nd, 2007 (WAM)- General Sheikh Mohammed bin ZayedAl Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of theUAE Armed Forces, today honoured the winners of Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
The first edition of the award was launched as part of Abu DhabiInternational Book Fair currently on show at Abu Dhabi National ExhibitionCentre. Addressing the audience, Sheikh Mohammed expressed hope that theaward would help boost cultural output. He lamented the fact that theentire Arab world produced only 5,600 books in a year's time, comparedto 100,000 cranked out by North America, and over 40,000 by Latin Americaand the Caribbean. "This is a shameful comparison," he said.He called for collaborative efforts to help overcome this unpleasantreality.
Toward the end of the programme, Sheikh Mohammed distributed awardsto the winners. Dennis Johnson Davis won the year's cultural personalityaward. Dr. Basheir Mohammed Al Khadra grabbed Sheikh Zayed DevelopmentAward. The children literature award went to Dr. Mohammed Ali Ahmed, whilethe literary and art awards went respectively to Waseeni Al Araj and Dr. Tharwat Akasha. Mahmoud Zain Al abdeen was proclaimed the winner in theyoung innovators category while George Zeinati won the translation award. Earlier, a group of participants called on Sheikh Mohammed atQasr Al Bahar.
