Sharjah 24: The ongoing Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2023) recently hosted Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in an engaging session featuring esteemed members and past winners of its renowned reading competition.

Emphasising the centre’s dedication to its founding pillars of culture, creativity, community, art, and knowledge, the session exemplified Ithra's mission to cultivate a vibrant literary community and encourage a deeper engagement with the word. 

The esteemed panellists, comprising distinguished Ithra members, Tariq Khawaji, a cultural consultant at Ithra and supervisor of the Ithra Reading Program (iRead) and previous winners of the reading competition, Ms. Duaa Hassnin from Egypt and Sufyan al-Buraq, 2023 winner of Ithra competition from Morocco, offered insightful perspectives and personal anecdotes that underscored the transformative power of literature and the enduring impact of Ithra's initiatives on their literary journeys.

Tariq Khawaji shared Ithra‘s journey since its establishment in 2018 to promote literacy and cultivate a dynamic cultural landscape. He stated that the Ithra reading competition began as a local literary event in the Al-Sharqiyyah region in eastern Saudi Arabia only to turn national in response to the high number of entries received in the first edition and, ultimately, into a regional competition for Arab readers and writers in the Arab world. 

Sharing heartfelt accounts of their literary explorations and the impact of Ithra's programmes on their academic aspirations, the panellists underscored the pivotal role of the reading competition in nurturing a lifelong love for reading and fostering a deep appreciation for diverse literary genres and narratives.

The session served as an inspiration for aspiring readers and literary enthusiasts attending the discussion at SIBF, which runs in Expo Centre Sharjah until November 12, with the theme ‘We Speak Books’.