The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has closed the nomination stage for the inaugural edition of the Golden Narrative (Sard Al Thahab) Award, which was launched to honour narrators of biographies, literature, and folk tales in the UAE and the region, and highlight their most notable contributions to the local and international cultural sectors.

The nomination phase was highly successful, exceeding all expectations, and reporting largescale participation from countries around the world and across all categories. The Award received more than 983 nominations from 22 countries, which underscores the important role it plays in generating a unique creative movement in the field of storytelling.

His Excellency Abdullah Majid Al Ali, Chairman of the Award’s Higher Committee and Director General of the National Library and Archives, said: “The nomination phase for the Golden Narrative (Sard Al Thahab) Award has demonstrated the exceptional importance given to the art of storytelling in both Arab and international cultures. The Award has witnessed remarkable and diverse participation across all categories in its inaugural edition, which is a positive sign pointing to a new generation of talent in this ancient artform. This supports our efforts to craft Emirati and Arab narratives that reflect our past, present, and aspirations for the future, and this enthusiasm drives us to further develop the Award into a vital resource, enriching our libraries with valuable works of art and literature.”

The nominations report for the Award’s inaugural edition revealed that the Short Story Prize for Unpublished Stories category received the highest number of submissions, with 703 entries, accounting for 71% of total nominations. Meanwhile, the Illustrated Story category received 86 entries, representing 9% of total nominations, followed by the Short Story for Published Stories category with 84 entries, also constituting 9% of total nominations.

The Popular Narratives category, for its part, received 45 entries, representing 5% of total nominations, while the Narrators category received 44 entries, making up 4%, and rounding up the list is the Emirati Storytelling category with 21 entries, accounting for 2% of total nominations.

The report also highlighted that the majority of submissions came from Egypt (414 entries), followed by Syria (96 entries), Morocco (84 entries), Algeria (76 entries), Iraq (69 entries), and the UAE (43 entries).

In the upcoming period, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre will begin the evaluation and reading process in preparation for the judging phase. The Golden Narrative (Sard Al Thahab) Award offers a total prize pool of AED2 million divided among all of its categories and aims to celebrate talented narrators who have retraced the UAE’s history, lifestyle, heritage, and development over the decades at the local, Arab, and international levels.