Sharjah 24: The Cultural and Media Office of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) announced the results of the sixth edition of Gulf Women Creativity Award in Arts and Literature for the year 2024.

Winners will be honoured on the 23rd of April, in the Al Jawaher Hall, under the patronage of the wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Muhammad Al Qasimi, Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah.

In the field of poetry, Shaqra Muhammad Madkhali from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia won for the collection “An amazed voice that looks like sadness”; and Lulwah Jassim Al Rayes from the United Arab Emirates for the collection of “Scattered Pearls.” In the field of novels, Sharifa Ali Al Tubiya from the Sultanate of Oman won for the novel “Al-Bairaq, the Secret of the Mountain”. Jamila Abdullah Ali from Kuwait for the novel “The War of Flowers.” In the field of theatrical writing, Amna Rabie Mabrouk from the Sultanate of Oman won for the play “Rory”; and Lulwa 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 the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the text “You Challenge and Confound the Wind of Najd”. The winner of the cultural personality award will be announced later.

The award comes in support of women creativity and intellectual visions on cultural and literary topics, and to enhance the role of women’s fiction and poetry in the GCC countries.

Her Excellency Salha Ghabish, Head of the Cultural and Media Office of SCFA, said that participation in the sixth edition of the award saw a 15 percent increase over the previous edition, indicating that the conditions of the award applied to all participants, which reflects the success of the award and the interest of creative women in all its details.

Her Excellency Salha Ghabish confirmed that the award is the first of its kind at the GCC countries level, as it is concerned with women’s literary creations in the field of narration, poetry, theatre and children’s literature. The competition in the current edition necessitated the allocation of a new award called the “The Jury Award” for distinguished works, noting that a Gulf female figure who published books and a prominent cultural presence will be honoured.

Regarding adding an award in the field of theatrical writing, and postponing the field of literary studies for future editions, Her Excellency Salha Ghabish explained that the goal is to provide an opportunity for more than one literary genre to achieve diversity, as the award continues to change the literary forms in each edition, in the hope that the award will create an influential literary and cultural movement.