The Emirates Literature Foundation this month received the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for its role in developing the UAE’s literary scene, and supporting readers and writers. The recognition marks a milestone for an organisation that has spent 13 years building a literary ecosystem in the UAE.
For its founder, Isobel Abulhoul, the honour carries both personal and institutional significance. “It was like a dream come true,” she says. “We feel privileged to have been selected.”
Best known for organising the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, the foundation has steadily expanded beyond a single annual event. Its work spans publishing, education and long-term development programmes, all aimed at supporting readers and writers at different stages.
“That has always been the ambition of the foundation, to build an ecosystem around what we do,” Abulhoul says.
The award, she adds, reflects that broader vision. “The Sheikh Zayed Book Award has looked at and recognised the journey since the foundation and all of these initiatives began,” she says. “It truly couldn’t have come at a better time.”
A key part of its growth has been the development of the foundation’s publishing arm, which emerged in response to demand from writers in the UAE seeking support to develop and publish their work.
“It grew out of seeing that there was a gap that needed filling,” Abulhoul says.
The focus, she explains, is on Emirati writers, with an emphasis on ensuring their work reaches a wider audience through translation. The strategy has already seen more authors presented internationally.
While expanding reach remains important, much of the foundation’s work is rooted in developing readers, particularly children, locally. Abulhoul describes this as a priority, especially in a media landscape dominated by screens.
“It is essential because if they’re a lifelong reader, they’re also a lifelong learner,” she says.
The foundation’s Reading for Pleasure initiative reflects this approach. The five-year programme, currently active in six pilot schools, combines classroom libraries, author visits and structured reading time, while being tracked by academic researchers.
“We have put classroom libraries into nearly 300 classrooms across the six schools,” Abulhoul says.
The results, she says, are already visible. “When you see 10-year-old boys say, ‘I need to finish this book. I’m not ready to go home yet’, you know the impact it’s having.”
Abulhoul places particular emphasis on early exposure, noting that reading habits can be shaped long before formal education begins.
“A child who grows up in a home where there are books, where parents give time to read to their children from the earliest days,” she says, “you will see their development.”
She also raises concerns about the increasing role of digital devices in children’s lives.
“You can give a little child an iPad and they will sit there,” she says. “They’re not engaged with anyone. They’re just watching whatever is on the screen. Is that good? No, it’s not.”
Her argument is not to remove technology altogether, but to ensure balance and access to alternatives that support development.
“It generally takes one book that they read by themselves to set them on the path to becoming a lifelong reader,” she says.
That philosophy underpins the foundation’s flagship festival, which has long prioritised education alongside public programming. From the festival's earliest editions, visiting authors have been sent into schools and universities across the UAE.
For Abulhoul, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award recognition affirms that long-term approach, while also opening the door to future ambitions.
“I have always dreamt about children’s publishing and about the journey from page to screen,” she says. The idea of adapting locally produced stories into film is one such ambition, extending their reach beyond traditional readership.
Next year will mark the 19th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, due to take place in mid-April instead of January. The change, Abulhoul says, enables a concentrated focus on programming on the education side.
“It gives us a great window because we have so many educational events during the annual festival, which is at the heart of what we do and always has been,” she says. “If we’re bringing authors from around the world, we need to send them out to talk to as many audiences as possible.”
