Researcher at UAE University wins Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature

Naeema Al Hosani, a researcher in cartography, won the prize for her translation of the Mungo Park book 'Maps and Travels in Africa 1795-1797'

UAEU is the first national university and one of the highest-ranked and largest higher education institutions in the country. Courtesy: UAEU

A researcher at United Arab Emirates University has won the Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature.

Naeema Al Hosani, a researcher in cartography at the university’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, won the prize in the Translated Journey category.

She received the award for translating the book Maps and Travels in Africa 1795-1797 by Scottish explorer Mungo Park into Arabic. The organiser of the award, the Arab Centre for Geographical Literature, will publish the book in a new edition in co-operation with the Al Mutawassit Publishing House in Milan.

In a statement, Al Hosani said her accomplishment is a new achievement for Emirati culture and creativity. The UAE, she said, is at the forefront of the art of translation, thanks to a selection of projects that contribute to the exchange between world cultures.

A PhD holder from the University of Kansas, Al Hosani expressed her interest in passing on her experience in the fields of geographic information systems, remote sensing, environment, tourism and education.

Established in 2003, the Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature is an annual award presented by the Arab Centre for Geographical Literature in Abu Dhabi and London. The prize aims to encourage investigation, authorship and research in travel and travel literature.

The award is named after the famous Moroccan scholar and explorer, renowned for his travels across Afro-Eurasia, which he detailed in his travelogue Al Rihla.

Ibn Battuta travelled about 117,000 kilometres, more than any explorer in pre-modern history, surpassing the Chinese mariner Zheng He by about 50,000km and the Venetian explorer Marco Polo by 24,000km.