Frankfurt: His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, on Wednesday evening visited the Frankfurt Book Fair 2017.
Shaikha Budoor Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, founder and president of the Emirates Publishers Association (EPA), accompanied him.
During the visit, Dr Shaikh Sultan visited Sharjah’s pavilion, represented by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA).
Touring Sharjah’s pavilion, Dr Shaikh Sultan inspected the books that fall under the umbrella of the SBA, and was briefed by Ahmad Al Ameri, chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, on the main exhibits, including the latest versions of Al Qasimi Publications that specialises in the published works of Dr Shaikh Sultan.
During the tour, Dr Shaikh Sultan was briefed by Brigadier General Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police, on the most significant publications of Sharjah Police participating in Sharjah’s pavilion.
Among the participants in Sharjah’s pavilion were Sharjah Publishing City, Kalimat Publishing Group, as well as many other institutions.
Dr Shaikh Sultan toured and inspected several pavilions participating at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where he was briefed by a number of officials and dignitaries on the most important initiatives of those institutions.
Dr Shaikh Sultan also visited the pavilions of a number of Arab and foreign countries and received a number of gifts and publications.
During his tour to many foreign and German publishing houses, Dr Shaikh Sultan visited OLMS’s pavilion, which is one of the prestigious publishing houses that translated his book, ‘The Conflict between Power and Trade in the Gulf’, into German.
Amid great attendance of several German intellectuals and readers, Dr Shaikh Sultan signed the copies of the book for many visitors
Sharjah’s is participating in the Frankfurt Book Fair, which has been organised for more than 300 years and considered one of the world’s oldest book fairs and the largest event for the publishing industry, for the 19th year.
Also present were Ali Abdullah Al Ahmad, UAE Ambassador to Germany; Abdullah Mohammad Al Owais, chairman of Sharjah’s Department of Culture and Information; Abdul Aziz Taryam, CEO adviser and general manager of Etisalat Northern Emirates, as well as several intellectual figures from around the world.
Etisalat children’s literature award shortlist
Frankfurt: His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, on Wednesday, attended the announcement of the shortlist of the ninth edition of the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature.
Shaikha Budoor Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, founder and patron of the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), was also present. The shortlist was announced during a meeting organised by the UAEBBY at the Sharjah pavilion in the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Abdul Aziz Taryam, CEO adviser and general manager of Etisalat Northern Emirates; Marwa Al Aqroubi, president of the UAEBBY Executive Board, and a number of representatives of international and Arabic publishing houses.
Dr Shaikh Sultan called on the award’s officials to provide more support to Emirati publishers, writers and artists to encourage them to participate in the award to promote their work. He said that Emirati publishers, writers and artists can be supported by increasing and diversifying the workshops and courses offered to them so that they contribute and compete to win prizes.
Shaikha Budoor said that the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature has played a prominent role in enhancing the capabilities of the publishing sector specialised for children and adolescents in the Arab world.
She pointed out that people working in this sector should produce more distinguished works, which will strengthen children’s connection to books and make them more interested in reading, and develop their imagination and knowledge. Shaikha Budoor said that this will also help raise children’s awareness and boost their knowledge, and more importantly, increasing the children’s emotional attachment to the Arabic language.
Shaikha Budoor added that although the award is for Arabic literature, its presence at the Frankfurt Book Fair has become an event that is eagerly anticipated by foreign publishers and specialists in children’s literature.
The Etisalat Award allocates Dh300,000 to its ‘Warsha’ programme for organising workshops to build Arab capabilities in writing, illustration and production, as well as for discovering, nurturing and inspiring the next generation of young Arab talent in the children’s book industry. The total amount of prize money and funds offered by the Etisalat Award is Dh1.2 million.
Most entries came from Egypt with 31 submissions, followed by Lebanon with 30 entries. The UAE submitted 28 entries, Jordan 16, Palestine 11, Iraq seven, Saudi Arabia five, Morocco four, Syria three, the US making its debut with three, Kuwait and Tunisia’s submissions totalled two, Oman with a single entry; and the UK and Cyprus — who are both participating for the first time — with one each.
The ninth edition of the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature features six categories: ‘Children’s Book of the Year’ worth Dh300,000 to be distributed equally between the author, illustrator and publisher; ‘Young Adult Book of the Year’ valued at Dh200,000 to be distributed equally between the author and publisher; as well as the ‘Best Text,’ ‘Best Illustration,’ ‘Best Production’ and ‘Digital Book App of the Year’ categories, worth Dh100,000 each.
