Sharjah: The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), has announced that August 31 will be the deadline for the submission of entry applications for publishers who wish to participate in the fourth Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature.
The award was first launched in 2009 as an initiative by Shaikha Budoor Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of UAEBBY, with the support of etisalat, and is worth Dh1 million.
Shaikha Budoor said: “The award aims to stimulate publishers and authors to be more creative in this field in order to establish high quality and highly creative Arabic children’s literature.”
The award is given annually to the best Arabic children’s book, with 50 per cent of the money going to the winning publisher and 50 per cent divided between the author and illustrator as per the decision of the jury.
The criteria of the award is that the entry should be a book targeting children aged 0-14, published in Arabic and should have been published no earlier than three years prior to the year in which the call for entries was announced. Each publisher may nominate a maximum of three books. Translated or reproduced works are not eligible. Last year, the award was given to the Egyptian publishing house, Nahdet Misr for the book Teeri Ya Tayara (Fly Away Kite), written by Amani Al Ashmawi and illustrated by Hanadi Sileet.
The judging panel, composed of local and international experts in children’s literature, will revise the entries and ensure their compliance with the criteria, before announcing the preliminary list of books.
