Entries open for Arabic children’s lit award

dubai — Publishers, authors, illustrators and app developers of Arabic books for children and young people now have a shot at entering one of the Arab world’s most important children’s literature prizes, the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature.

The competition is opening online registration for the award’s 9th edition.

The award is organised by the Sharjah-based UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), and sponsored by Etisalat Group. The deadline for submission (on www.etisalataward.ae) this year is August 31 for all categories, which are as follows: Children’s Book of the Year, Young Adult Book of the Year, Best Text, Best Illustration, Best Production, and Digital Book App of the Year.

The website is replete with information on why the Etisalat Award was conceived, what kind of talent it seeks to recognise, its history and mission, eligibility criteria, rules of submission, and more.

The competition is open to all international publishers, as long as their works are in Arabic, are first-editions, and are designed for children and young people under 18 years of age. The entries should not have previously won Arab or international prizes.

The rationale behind giving prospective participants the option to enter the contest online is to facilitate the submission process in a way that provides the largest number of publishers, authors, illustrators and app developers the opportunity to showcase themselves. The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature is worth a total of Dh1.2 million, and divided among its six categories as follows: Children’s Book of the Year is worth Dh300,000; the Young Adult Book of the Year is worth Dh200,000; Best Text, Best Illustration, Best Production and Digital Book App of the Year — are worth Dh100,000 each.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com