The Sheikh Zayed Book Award Italian Tour
In Celebration of the 20th Anniversary
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, under the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, in collaboration with Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Ca’ Foscari Università di Venezia, and Università di Napoli L’Orientale, presents:
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award Italian Tour
In Celebration of the 20th Anniversary
Authenticity, Authority, and Mediation: From Classical Translation to Contemporary Literary Cultures and Digital Humanisms
Bologna–Venice–Naples
11–15 May 2026
On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) reaffirms its role as a leading global cultural actor, committed to fostering dialogue across languages, disciplines, and intellectual traditions. Situated at the intersection of literature, translation, and knowledge production, the Award operates as an interdisciplinary platform that promotes critical engagement with the past while opening new horizons for contemporary cultural and humanistic inquiry.
In this same spirit, the University Network for Arabic and Translation Studies - bringing together Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, and Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale - works to advance collaborative research, pedagogical innovation, and public engagement in the fields of Arabic studies and translation. By connecting institutional expertise across Italy, the Network seeks to strengthen the role of Arabic language and culture within a global, multilingual, and cross-disciplinary framework.
Together, these converging missions give shape to a three-city Italian tour (Bologna–Venice–Naples), conceived to celebrate the SZBA’s global impact on Arabic literature, translation, and the broader history of intercultural mediation.
This initiative brings together distinguished SZBA laureates and affiliated scholars, including:
- H.E. Ali Bin Tamim, Secretary-General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award
- Muhsin al-Musawi, Columbia University
- Bilal Orfali, American University of Beirut
- Reem Bassiouney, American University in Cairo
- Chokri al-Saadi, University of Tunis
- Marco Di Branco, Sapienza Università di Roma
Conceived as a space of encounter between academic research and public discourse, the tour combines international symposia, public lectures, and scholarly dialogues across three major Italian universities. It further extends into key cultural institutions, including the Centro Internazionale di Studi Umanistici 'Umberto Eco' in Bologna and the Premio Napoli, thus symbolically and concretely linking Italian and Arab intellectual traditions.
By foregrounding questions of authenticity, authority, and mediation, the initiative reflects a shared commitment to understanding translation not merely as transfer, but as an epistemic and creative practice - one that shapes the circulation of ideas across time, languages, and disciplines.
