Al Ain: Dr. Naeema Al Hosani, College of Humanities and Social Sciences at UAE University, won the Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature 2020-2021, in the “Translated Journey” category, for the book: “Maps and Travels in Africa 1795-1797” by Scottish writer and explorer Mongo Park, awarded by the Arabic Center for Geographic Literature “Irtiyad al-Afaq” in Abu Dhabi and London.
The award adopted the publication of the book in a new edition, in cooperation with the “Al-Mutawassit Publishing House” in Milan, Italy. The Center has awarded Ibn Battuta Awards annually since 2003 for the best written and published works in Arab travel literature, in various fields of creativity, including the translation field.
Dr. Naeema Al Hosani said that this wining is a new achievement for Emirati culture and creativity, which has become at the forefront of the map of the art of translation, through a selection of projects that contribute today to the transfer of world cultures, and travel literature into different languages. The travel literature reminds us with the famous traveler, Ibn Battuta, one of the oldest literary styles, whose concept was set early, and became an opportunity for communication between a writer who narrates an interesting journey and a reader looking for ways to discover the other. Therefore, we are in dire need today of that civilized thought, and also to convey the literature of the Arab journey, through centuries, to other languages, so the Western reader can get acquainted closely with the nature of the Arab’s view of the other, and his self-view through travels in the other world. She added that the UAE is a global platform for research and translation and building strong bridges with the cultures of the world in particular, and human creativity in general.
Dr. Naeema Al Hosani, a PhD holder from the University of Kansas-USA, and a researcher in the science of cartography, expressed her interest in transferring knowledge and experience to university students, in the fields of geographic information systems, remote sensing, environment, tourism and education, in addition to her qualitative contributions to the transfer of academic research to the Arab public and researchers through her translation of a number of internationally important books in her field of specialization. As a result, she received many awards and certificates of appreciation from prestigious Arab and international institutions.
