Sharjah24: The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature (EAACL), organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and sponsored by Etisalat Group, has announced August 31 as the cut-off date for submissions to its 13th edition.

The region’s premier award in children’s literature is dedicated to encouraging a culture of reading in children and youth by honouring and highlighting the best Arabic language works of authors, illustrators and publishers from the UAE and around the world.

Authors, publishers and illustrators of Arabic books for children and young adults are eligible to participate in the AED 1.2 million Award. Entries must be submitted online before August 31 at the official website, http://etisalataward.ae, by 12:00 noon UAE time. 

Categories

The Etisalat Award is presented across five categories: the ‘Early Reader’ targeting children aged 0-5 years; ‘Picture Book’ for kids aged 5-9, ‘Chapter Book’ dedicated to children aged 9-12, ‘Young Adult Book’ targeting adolescents aged 13-18, and ‘Comic Book’ category for youth up to 18 years old.

Cash prizes

The Etisalat Award’s net worth is AED 1.2 million. Each category is awarded AED 180,000, distributed equally between the publisher, author and illustrator, except the Young Adult Book category which is divided between the publisher and the author.

Besides, AED 300,000 is allocated to the Warsha programme which organises the Etisalat Award Workshops for Children’s Books. The workshops seek to build Arab people’s capacities in writing and illustration, as well as to discover and foster a new generation of Arab talent that meets international standards in children’s and young adults’ writing.

An independent judging panel will evaluate the short-listed entries and select the winners.

Eligibility criteria

The Etisalat Award has raised its bars for this year’s edition. The entry must be original, written in Arabic and not have been translated. It must be in printed format and published by a publishing house or a registered entity. Self-published books are not eligible. The book must be published within the past five years, and can be co-authored by more than one writer.