The Ibn Battuta Prize for travel literature has announced the names of the winners for its twenty-second edition, which has been awarded to 11 writers and researchers from Tunisia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Libya, and Morocco. Established in 2000, the prize is awarded annually by the Arab Center for Geographical Literature - Irtiad Al-Afaq in Abu Dhabi and London for the best works published and written in the genre of travel literature.
In the category of verified travels, the prize was awarded to Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Nassan from Syria for his work on the book "Musalih Al-Gharib fi Kulli Amr Gharib - A Journey to Brazil" by Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Baghdadi Al-Dimashqi Al-Madani Al-Hassani, along with Ahmad Jum'a Abdul Hamid and Yahya Zakariya Al-Soudah from Egypt for their verification of the book "Sufir Al-Murtad wa Ra'ed Al-İsaad" by Ali bin Yahya bin Ahmad Al-Kailani Al-Qadiri Al-Hamwi.
In the contemporary travel category, the prize was awarded to Abu Al-Harith Moussa Ibrahim from Libya for his book "Journeys Around the World," and to Mohamed Khalil from Morocco for his book "Thus I Came to Know China."
In the diaries category, the prize went to Hassouna Al-Masbahy from Tunisia for his book "Days in Istanbul."
In the studies category, winners included Nour Eldin Belkoudri from Morocco for "Imagination in Contemporary Arab Travel," Mohamed Reda Boudchar from Morocco for "The Late Andalusians in European Travels to Spain," and Aadha Al-Muslamani from Qatar for "The Narrative Discourse in the Travels of Al-Ghasani and Al-Wardani."
The prize for translated travels was awarded to Ibrahim bin Muhammad Al-Batshan from Saudi Arabia for his translation of the book "Morocco... People and Land," to Hussein Hamad Hussein Mahmoud from Libya for translating "Searching for the Masked Tuaregs," and to Emad Al-Ahmed from Syria for translating the book "Bloodstone."
A prize-giving ceremony is set to be organized in two stages, in Tangier and Abu Dhabi, at dates to be determined later.
