The International Award for Arab Children’s Literature… from literary honor to making a long-term impact

Sharjah, December 19 / WAM / The “International Award for Arab Children’s Literature” was launched in 2009 as an idea that seeks to place Arab children’s literature in the place it deserves globally and to say with confidence that stories published in Arabic are able to compete with the best writing for children in any other language.

Over the course of more than a decade, this idea turned into a growing cultural movement, from 47 participations from 8 Arab countries in the first session to more than 300 participations annually from more than 20 countries in the Arab world and the world. Between the beginning and the expansion, the award expanded from the limits of literary honoring to creating a long-term impact based on strengthening the roles of authors, painters, and publishers in a way that reshapes the Arab child’s relationship with reading.

The development of the award cannot be read in isolation from the cultural scene in Sharjah, a scene that was established by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and under the leadership of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Sharjah Book Authority, where reading and publishing turned into two pillars of sustainable cultural development.

Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of the UAE Council on Books for Young People, confirmed that the goal of the award from the beginning was to build a true creative space that reflects the Arab child as he is and gives him stories in which he can see himself, his language, his feelings, and his reality within an honest narrative that befits his daily experience and makes him feel that literature was actually written for him.

She added that the world of children today is no longer simple or limited to questions, but rather has become more complex and intertwined, which makes them need stories that help them understand what is around them, give them tools for contemplation, interpretation, and balance, and open before them broader horizons for seeing life and the possibilities they can reach. She pointed out that the cultural vision in Sharjah stems from a firm belief that culture begins from childhood and that investing in a child’s imagination is an investment in a shared future because imagination is the first seed of knowledge, awareness, and the ability to imagine and change.

She explained that the award in each cycle reveals new voices and different ways of seeing the world and re-establishes belief in the power of the Arabic language and its ability to carry stories with broad human meaning, noting that the story of the award continues and will always begin with that phrase that resembles the memory of Arab childhood: “Once upon a time.”

Over the past ten years, the award has honored more than 100 authors, illustrators, and publishers and has contributed to stimulating the production of nearly 400 books directed at children and young people in the Arabic language. With the development of the scene, the award did not stop at the idea of ​​the “book” as a printed product only. Starting in 2017, it expanded its categories to include illustrators, in a move that recognizes that the image is an essential partner in creating the child’s imagination.

With the strengthening of its status, the impact of the award was reflected in the presence of Arab writers outside the borders of the region. A group of books that were honored in Sharjah for the first time later found their way to major international exhibitions such as the “Bologna Children’s Book Fairs,” “Frankfurt,” and “London” International Book Fairs, so that the award practically became a crossing point towards broader exposure opportunities and new professional paths for Arab children’s book makers. The scope of the award also expanded internationally through translation, as more than 40 of the winning books were translated into languages including English, French, Turkish, and Korean, which allowed new readers to learn about Arabic children’s literature.

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