The Arab American Book Award, established in 2006, is an annual literary award to celebrate and support the research of, and the written work of, Arab Americans and their culture. The Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excellence of books that preserve and advance the understanding, knowledge, and resources of the Arab American community by celebrating the thoughts and lives of Arab Americans. The purpose of the Award is to inspire authors, educate readers and foster a respect and understanding of the Arab American culture.Arab American Book Award Official Webpage http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/bookaward
The Arab American Book Award was brought about by the Arab American National Museum and faculty members of the nearby University of Toledo. The winning titles are chosen by groups of selected readers including respected authors, university professors, artists and AANM staff. The Awards are given during an invitation only event in the Fall of the award year. The AANM first gave these awards in 2007 for books published in 2006; for 2007, the number of submissions more than doubled from the inaugural year.Arab American National Museum Press Release, October 13, 2008
To help ensure the continuity of the Arab American Book Award a special endowment fund has been launched with a $10,000 gift from Drs. A. Adnan and Barbara C. Aswad. Dr. Barbara C. Aswad is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and a past president of the Middle Eastern Studies Association and a Board Member Emerita for the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), parent organization of the Arab American National Museum. Dr. A. Adnan Aswad is Professor Emeritus of Engineering at the University of Michigan–Dearborn. The Aswads, now based in Los Angeles, were inspired to make the gift after the inaugural Book Award ceremony in Fall 2007.
In 2011, the non-fiction prize was renamed to honor the legacy and contributions to Arab American scholarship of Evelyn Shakir, who died of breast cancer in 2010. In addition to winning the Arab American Book Award for Fiction in 2008, Professor Shakir extensively researched the history of Arab women and wrote the groundbreaking work Bint Arab: Arab and Arab American Women in the United States in 1997. Evelyn's longtime partner, poet George Ellenbogen, established the award in collaboration with the Arab American National Museum.Evelyn Shakir: Remembering a West Roxbury writing pioneer
Chronology change (2009)
In 2009, The Arab American Book Award Committee changed the name of the '2008 Arab American Book Award' to the '2009 Arab American Book Award' in order to reflect the true award date instead of the publication date of the winning books. All dates in the previous Award years were also changed retroactively. While the date within the Award name has changed, the rules regarding the publication dates for eligible submissions have not.
Award recipients
Adult fiction
+Winners and honorable mentions in Adult fiction Year Author(s) Title Result 2007 In the Country of Men Winner2008Remember Me to LebanonWinnerOriginHonorable mention2009Winner2010Master of the Eclipse: And Other Stories Winner2011Loom: a NovelWinner2012Birds of ParadiseWinnerAnatomy of a DisappearanceHonorable mention2013Lebanese BlondeWinnerFlying CarpetsHonorable mention2014Winner Honorable mention2015 Winner (tie)2016 WinnerIn the Language of MiraclesHonorable mention2017The Angel of HistoryWinner13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl Honorable mention2018Salt Houses Winner2019AmreekiyaWinner2020 Winner Honorable mention2021Against the Loveless WorldWinnerAlligator And Other StoriesHonorable mention2022Bride of the SeaWinner2023Winner (tie)If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English2024Shubeik LubeikWinnerDearbornHonorable mention2025We Walked OnWinner
Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award Prior to 2011, this award was referred to primarily as the Non-Fiction Award.
+Winners and honorable mentions in non-fiction Year Author(s) Title Result 2007 WinnerHonorable mention“Evil” Arabs in American Popular Film2008Another ArabesqueWinnerKisses from a DistanceHonorable mentionAnnals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens2009How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in AmericaWinnerHonorable mentionPalestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation2010Angeleno Days: An Arab American Writer on Family, Place, and PoliticsWinnerHomeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11Honorable mention2011Arab Americans in Toledo: Cultural Assimilation and Community Involvement editedWinnerBarefoot in BaghdadHonorable mention2012, Evelyn Alsultany and Nadine Naber (eds.)Arab and Arab-American Feminisms: Gender, Violence, & Belonging editedWinnerModern Arab-American Fiction: A Reader's GuideHonorable mention2013House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and Lost Middle EastWinnerHonorable mentionEven My Voice Is Silence2014 and Deborah Al-NajjarWe Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War editedWinner and Ella ShohatBetween the Middle East and the Americas: The Cultural Politics of Diaspora editedHonorable mention and Maggie Schmitt2015Old Islam in Detroit: Rediscovering the Muslim American PastWinner2016This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on TerrorWinner (tie) and Germine H. AwadHandbook of Arab American Psychology2017Inter/Nationalism: Decolonizing Native America and PalestineWinnerIndustrial Sexuality: Gender, Urbanization, and Social Transformation in EgyptHonorable mention2018WinnerSexagon: Muslims, France, and the Sexualization of National CultureHonorable mention2019Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in São Paulo,Winner2020When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family's Forgotten HistoryWinner (tie)Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora, 1908-1925Women of the Midan: The Untold Stories of Egypt's RevolutionariesHonorable mention2021Arab Routes: Pathways to Syrian CaliforniaWinner (tie) and Elia ZughaibStories My Father Told MeArticulations Of Resistance: Transformative Practices in Contemporary Arab American PoetryHonorable mention2022Don't Forget Us HereWinner (tie)Return to Ruin: Iraqi Narratives of Exile and Nostalgia, Suad Joseph, and Louise CainkarArab American Women: Representation and RefusalHonorable mention2023Muslims of the HeartlandWinner (tie), Nabeel Abraham, and Sally Howell (Eds.)Hadha BaladunaBroken: The Failed Promise of Muslim InclusionHonorable mention, Pauline Homsi Vinson, and Amira Jarmakani (Eds.)Sajjilu: A Reader in SWANA StudiesLearning America: One Woman's Fight for Educational Justice for Refugee Children2024The Right Kind of Suffering: Gender, Sexuality, and Arab Asylum Seekers in AmericaWinner (tie)Love Across Borders: Passports, Papers, and Romance in a Divided WorldThe Weight of GhostsHonorable mentionPossible Histories: Arab Americans and the Queer Ecology of Peddling2025The Land is HolyWinner (tie)Revolution Squared: Tahrir, Political Possibilities, and Counterrevolution in EgyptA War of Colors: Graffiti and Street Art in Postwar BeirutHonorable mention
Children's/Young Adult
+Children's/Young Adult winners and honorable mentions Year Author(s) Title Result 2007 with Ted Lewin (illus.) One Green AppleWinner2008Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian ChildhoodWinner2009Honeybee: Poems & Short ProseWinner2010No winner 2011Saving SkyWinner with Ned Gannon (illus.)Time to PrayHonorable mention2012No winner2013 and Susan L. RothHands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt's Treasured BooksWinnerShatter MeHonorable mention2014 and Maha AddasiKids Guide to Arab American HistoryWinnerHonorable mention2015Winner with Claire Ewart (illus.)Honorable mention2016No Winner 2017WinnerHonorable mentionBalcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine2018No Winner 2019I’ve Loved You Since ForeverWinnerMirageHonorable mention2020I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic MemoirWinnerOther Words for HomeHonorable mention2021 with Anait Semirdzhyan (illus.)Winner (tie)Farah Rocks Fifth Grade2022Home is Not a CountryWinner2023Arab, Arab All Year Long! Winner (C), Adam Tlaib, and Miranda PaulMama in Congress: Rashida Tlaib's Journey to WashingtonHonorable mention (C)Ida in the Middle Winner (YA)Honorable mention (YA)2024Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine Winner (C)Salma Makes a HomeHonorable mention (C)Old Enough to Know Winner (YA)Tagging FreedomHonorable mention (YA)2025A Map for FalasteenWinnerKamal’s KeyHonorable mention
George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
+Winners and honorable mentions in poetry Year Author(s) Title Result 2009 breaking poemsWinner 2010 Diary of a Wave Outside the SeaWinner2011TocquevilleWinnerThis Is a Nice NeighborhoodHonorable mention2012Abu Ghraib AriasWinnerTransferHonorable mention2013AtriumWinnerSea and FogHonorable mention2014WinnerMy Daughter La CholaHonorable mentionAlight2015Tahrir Suite: PoemsWinnerAnd the Time Is: Poems, 1958–2003Honorable mention2016WinnerSand OperaHonorable mention2017Something SinisterWinnerOne Hundred HungersHonorable mentionHagar Poems2018WinnerWater & SaltHonorable mention2019Footnotes in the Order of DisappearanceWinnerHonorable mention2020WinnerInvasive SpeciesHonorable mention2021BirthrightWinnerWashes, PraysHonorable mention2022WinnerHonorable mention2023OWinnerDEAR GOD. DEAR BONES. DEAR YELLOW.Honorable mentionYour Blue and the Quiet Lament2024A book with a hole in itWinnerWhat to CountHonorable mentionKaan and her Sisters2025Something About LivingWinnerCueHonorable mention
See also List of Arab American writers
References
External links Arab American Book Award, Official Site Arab American National Museum Website ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services)