Sharjah International Book Fair Awards 2026 with a Total Prize Value of AED 625,000
Applicant criteria
- No specific age required
- Both
Opportunity criteria
Opportunity description
The Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) is accepting nominations for the Sharjah International Book Fair Awards 2026 (SIBF Awards), a group of international literary awards and competitions that aim to recognize outstanding achievements in writing and publishing, while supporting authors, researchers, and Emirati, Arab, and international publishing houses. The total value of the awards is AED 625,000, distributed across 10 categories.
The awards cover a wide range of fields, including novels, academic studies, poetry, literary and non-fiction books in English, as well as awards recognizing publishing houses. The winners will be announced during the opening ceremony of the 45th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair, which will be held at Expo Centre Sharjah from November 4 to 15, 2026.
Benefits
The awards are divided into four main groups:
Sharjah Award for Emirati Books, with a total prize value of AED 300,000, including:
- Best Emirati Novel: AED 100,000.
- Best Emirati Academic Book: AED 100,000.
- Best Emirati Literary Creativity Book – Poetry: AED 50,000.
- Best Debut Emirati Novel: AED 50,000.
Sharjah Award for Best Arabic Novel:
- A prize worth AED 150,000.
- The prize amount is divided equally between the author and the publisher.
Sharjah Award for Best International Book, with a total prize value of AED 100,000:
- Best International Fiction Book in English: AED 50,000.
- Best International Non-Fiction Book in English: AED 50,000.
Publishing House Recognition Awards, with a total prize value of AED 75,000:
- Best Local Publishing House: AED 25,000.
- Best Arab Publishing House: AED 25,000.
Eligibility criteria
Eligibility varies depending on the selected category, but the awards generally target:
- Authors and writers.
- Researchers and academics.
- Publishers and publishing houses.
- Authors of eligible novels, literary works, and academic publications.
- Arab authors and publishers for the Arabic book categories.
- International authors and publishers for the international book categories.
- Works published in 2025 or 2026.
- For the Best Emirati Literary Creativity Book – Poetry category, works published between 2024 and 2026 are eligible.
For more international writing competitions