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The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) is inviting entries from Arab and international publishing houses to compete in the third edition of the AED 1 million Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature.
The deadline is 31 August, after which submissions will be evaluated by the jury and the wining title selected.
The Etisalat book award - an initiative by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of UAEBBY - was launched in 2009 with the support of Etisalat, and is the most significant award for children’s literature in the Arab world today.
Said Sheikha Bodour: "We are proud to be organizing the third edition of the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature, an initiative that has contributed significantly to enhancing children’s literature in the UAE and the Arab world by encouraging creativity and excellence among publishers, authors and illustrators over the past few years.
"We look forward to receiving many creative submissions in order to achieve the objectives of the award, which not only aims to honour the winning book, but also to support those within the industry. Publishers, writers and illustrators are all encouraged to participate in this effort to promote literature aimed at developing the mental and cognitive skills of children," she added.
She further expressed her hope that entries for this year’s edition would gain more momentum, stating that it would help enrich the Arabic library with an array of new titles dedicated to children.
Highlighting its distinguished role in community activities, Sheikha Bodour also praised Etisalat for supporting and sponsoring various important community activities at both the local and the Arab levels.
The AED1 million award, which encourages healthy competition between Arab publishing houses while promoting Arabic children’s literature, is awarded annually to the best Arabic children’s book, with 50 percent of the award money going to the winning publisher, and the remaining 50 percent being divided between the author and illustrator as per the decision of the jury.
The first Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature was awarded to Lebanon-based publisher Dar Al Hadaeq for its book Ana Oheb (I Love), written by Nabiha Muhaidali and illustrated by Nadeen Saidani, in 2009, while Egypt-based Dar El Shorouk won the second edition of the award for Al Noqta Al Sawda (The Black Dot), written and illustrated by Walid Taher.
Entrants must meet 14 terms and conditions to be eligible to compete for the award. The conditions for submitting entries include, among others, that the book be written in Arabic, and that it was published within the past three years. The book should not be a local, regional or international award winner, and it should be original; translated or quoted works will be excluded.
Entry is open to all Arab and international publishing houses dedicated to producing Arabic-language books targeting children from ages 0 to 14, and each publishing house may enter a maximum of three titles.
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