The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature, organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and sponsored by Etisalat Group, is gearing up to announce the winners of 12th edition in a virtual ceremony on Thursday, November 5, 2020 at 7:00 PM (UAE time zone GST+4). The event will be broadcast live via https://youtu.be/IjP1_XVL9CA
The UAEBBY earlier announced receiving a record 221 submissions from 22 countries, and shortlisted 13 titles from 7 Arab countries and 11 publishers for the current edition of the award. The Children’s Book of the Year category accepted 119 entries, while the Young Adult Book of the Year category accepted 40 submissions. Meanwhile, the Silent Book of the Year category received 12 books from among a total of 171 approved entries. The approved applications in the running for the award’s six categories include 93 publishers, 174 authors and 158 illustrators, with 50 entries were deemed ineligible for not meeting the award’s eligibility standards and criteria.
The Etisalat Award comprises of six categories: Children’s Book of the Year valued at AED 300,000 and distributed equally between the author, illustrator and publisher; Young Adult Book of the Year worth AED 200,000 and distributed equally between the author and publisher; three awards of AED 100,000 each for Best Text, Best Illustration and Best Production; and AED 100,000 for the ‘Silent Book’ category.
Additionally, as part of the award’s Warsha programme, which aims to discover and nurture a new generation of writers, illustrators and publishers, AED 300,000 will be dedicated to workshops that harness people’s ability to write and illustrate children’s books.