Sharjah24: Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, awarded the winners of the Gulf Women Creativity Award (GWCA) for 2024 in its sixth edition.

The Supreme Council for Family Affairs' Cultural and Media Office has organised the ceremony, which took place yesterday, Tuesday, April 23rd, at the Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre (JRCC).

During the ceremony, Her Highness addressed the winners, saying: "I am pleased to see today women of different generations gathering in love for language, literature, and culture, in an era where the majority use words to fuel conflicts and sow discord among cohesive communities. We believe that women play an essential role in reviving culture and elevating the status of the Arabic language within their families and society. Let your societal role be to reinforce the authentic culture inherited from our ancestors and instill love for our Arabic language, our true identity, in the hearts of future generations. We see young women dazzled by the superficial allure that drives them towards excessive material consumption, seeking false admiration from strangers on social media platforms. Today, we must continue the cultural gatherings that awaken our daughters from the obsession with appearances and materialism and engage them in what is beneficial and useful for them, their communities, and their nations."

Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher, in the presence of Salha Ghabish, Head of the Cultural and Media Office of SCFA, awarded honorary shields to the winners.
 
In the field of poetry, Shaqraa Muhammad Madkhali from Saudi Arabia won for the collection “A startled voice that sounds mournful”; and Luluah Jasim Al-Reis from the United Arab Emirates won for the collection “Scattered Pearls.” In the field of novels, Sharifa Ali Al Tubiya from Oman won for the novel “Al-Bayraq Sirat Al-Jabal” and Jamila Abdullah Ali from Kuwait for the novel “Flowers War.” In the field of playwriting, Aminah Rabie Mabrouk from Oman won for the play "Rory,"  and Luluah Ahmed Al Mansouri from the United Arab Emirates won for the play “The Cradle and the Water." The jury award went to Najiba Muhammad Al Rifai from the United Arab Emirates for the text “The Wanderers” and Hawraa Ali Al Humaili from Saudi Arabia for the text “Challenge and Confound the Wind of Najd." We will announce the winner of the cultural personality award later.
 
Salha Ghabish, Head of the Cultural and Media Office of SCFA, noted that the participation rate in the award's sixth edition has increased to 15 percent compared to the previous edition. She indicated that all submissions met the award's criteria, demonstrating the success of the award and the interest of female creators in every detail, motivating the award management to strive for continuous improvement.
 
The head of the cultural office emphasised that this award is the first of its kind in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as it focuses on the literary creations of women in the fields of narrative fiction, poetry, theatre, and children's literature. The intense competition among the participating creative women in this edition led to the introduction of a new category, the "Judges' Award," specifically for distinguished works by Gulf women who have significant literary contributions and cultural influence.

The award aims to support women's creativity in the Gulf region and their intellectual perspectives on cultural and literary subjects. It also seeks to enhance the role of women's narrative and poetic literature in Gulf Cooperation Council countries and actively contribute to enriching modern Gulf literature. Furthermore, it aims to stimulate positive competition in literary creativity among experienced individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

The writer, Dr Badeeah Al Hashemi, Professor of Literature and Modern Criticism in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Sharjah delivered a speech on behalf of the judging committee. She stated, 'The committee received texts and scripts from the participants in the three announced categories: novel, playwriting, and poetry. The total number of literary submissions was sixty-one, including twenty-two play scripts, twenty-six novels, and thirteen collections of poetry. The submitted works demonstrated a significant improvement in levels and genres, sparking intense and robust competition among the participants across all categories. The diversity of themes between traditional and contemporary literature was evident, and the participants emphasized the importance of employing both in creative writing and modern narrative techniques in the novel. The award revealed the skill of Gulf female poets in writing vertical poetry, refuting a previous notion that vertical poetry is a field of creativity for male poets only.

Dr Badeeah continued her speech, saying, 'We have witnessed the sincere desire of Gulf female writers for participation, as evidenced by the increasing number of submissions year after year. Some creative writers have participated repeatedly in consecutive years, despite not having won previously. This reflects the Gulf's supportive presence, which aims to sustain and develop the award.”

The writer Luluah Al Mansoori also delivered a speech to the winners, stating, 'I am delighted to extend a greeting of pride and honour to His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, who supports everything that enables women to fulfil their social and cultural roles and responsibilities. This award commemorates and documents Gulf women's creative journey, believing in the uniqueness of their shining essence, flowing in a complete and natural state with the universe, knowledge, and aesthetic contribution. The creative flow of Gulf women represents a level of deep awareness that surpasses the early stages of self-exploration and perception. They continue to explore the edges and delve into the depths of things, unravelling consciousness, time, and history through their interpretive visions that celebrate meaning and content.'
 
Accompanied by the melodies of the qanun played by the Emirati musician Mariam Al Shalubi, the poet Shaqraa Muhammad Madkhali recited poems from her collection, 'Bewilderment', and the poet Najat Al Dhahiri presented her poem “Attending to the Present Momen."

After the ceremony, writer Najiba Al Rafai moderated a cultural seminar on "Literature in the Digital World: Challenges and Aspirations", which the winning writers attended. Members of Sharjah's Consultive Council, as well as officials from Sharjah government agencies, writers, poets, and literary enthusiasts, attended the event and cultural seminar.