UAE: Win cash prizes in new Kateb Maktub contest for ‘Wikimedians’

Dubai: Emirates Literature Foundation and Wikimedians of the UAE User Group have launched the Kateb Maktub competition in English. The organisers call on all the Wikipedia editors and enthusiasts to create English articles about Arab authors before the deadline of August 18, 2022.

The English edition follows the success of the Arabic edition of the competition in 2021.

The latest competition aims to introduce Arabic literature and Arab writers to the English-speaking global community by increasing the number of articles available on Wikipedia. Competition winners are eligible for cash prizes, with the person in first place receiving $500, runners-up receiving $400 and $300 up for grabs for third place.

The competition is divided into two categories and will be judged by a panel of experts and certified editors from the Wikimedia community. The first category (Experts) is for Wikipedia users who are registered on the platform for at least four months prior to the start of the competition (July 18), and have edited 500 articles within the competition duration.

The second category (Beginners) is for users who are registered for less than four months prior to the start of the competition and have edited less than 500 articles within the competition duration.

To facilitate the participants, the user group has composed a list of notable Arab author names like Ahlam Basharat and Ahmed Qandil and Arabic book titles like Memory of the Flesh. Contributors have 24 hours, from the time they select an author, to upload the article to Wikipedia to ensure there are no duplicates. Contributors can also choose to recreate an existing Arabic article in English.

To date, Kateb Maktub has successfully increased the number of pages on Wikipedia by more than 500 per cent.