IBBY UAE takes over management of the Etisalat Prize for Arabic Children’s Literature
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
IBBY United Arab Emirates (UAEBBY) has taken over the management of the Etisalat Prize for Arabic Children’s Literature. Publishers have until August 31st to submit their entries for this year’s prize. The winner of the prize which is valued at AED 1 million dollars ($275,000 usd) will be announced in October at the Sharjah International Book Fair.
The Etisalat Award was established in 2009 by Sheika Bodour Al Qasimi in order to bring about some healthy competition between the publishing houses in the Arab World. At that time Sheika Bodour Al Qasimi said:
The Arab-speaking world does not have a reading culture per se as in the West. Parents don’t read bedtime stories to their children and there is a tendency for parents to rely on schools to give their children their first reading experience. As a consequence, parents don’t have the habit of buying books as presents for their children, so publishers have become relatively laid back and produce mediocre books that require very little investment.
My intention is for us to see eye-catching, well produced, interesting books for children out there in our bookshops. At the end of the day publishing is a business and money is a motivating factor and will hopefully spur the publisher’s interest to put more time and effort into the books they produce.
Now with UAEBBY’s management, the Etisalat Prize has evolved slightly and is intended to be an incentive not only for publishers but also for authors and illustrators to develop quality books, both form and content, that motivate children to be open to the world of knowledge and culture.
For a press release of the announcement of the 2010 prize , click here.
