Sixteen books from six Arab countries have been shortlisted for the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature.
The award, now in its 13th year, is organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and supported by the Etisalat telecommunication company. The final winners of the Dh1.2 million prize will be announced at a ceremony held during the Sharjah International Book Fair 2021, which takes place from November 3 to 13.
The award comprises five categories.
Early Reader category
Shortlisted works in the Early Reader category are:
- I Wish You written by Asma’a Amara, illustrated by Noha Mohammad and published by Dar El Shorouk in Egyptg house;
- ABZ by Samar Mahfouz Baraj, illustrated by Sinan Hallak and published by Dar Al Saqi in Lebanon
- It is Simple by Manar Hazzaa, illustrated by Basma Hosam and published by Al Alia Publishing House in Egypt
- Three Smart Foxes by Amal Nasser, illustrated by Nadine Issa and published by Hekaiat Qamar Publishing in Saudi Arabia
- My Hands by Rahima Belfar, illustrated by Besent Dawood and published by Al Alia Publishing House in Egypt
Picture Book category
Books in the running for the Picture Book prize are:
- Akh by Manar Hazzaa, illustrated by Sohela Khalid and published by Al Alia Publishing House in Egypt
- The Superhero by Nusaibah Al Azibi, illustrated by Hassan Manasra, and published by Dar Ashjar in the UAE
- My Pants are Short on Me by Maria Daadoush, illustrated by Celeste Iris, and published by Al Salwa Publishing House in Jordan
- Holes in my Sister's Brain! by Abeer Ali, illustrated by Gulnar Hajo and published by Hachette Antoine / Naufal in Lebanon
- What if you Found an Angry Dragon in your House? by Amal Nasser, illustrated by Reem Al Askari and published by Hekaiat Qamar Publishing in Saudi Arabia.
Chapter Book category
In the Chapter Book category, shortlisted books are:
- I Object! Dinosaurs are Not Extinct by Wiam Ahmed Mahmoud, illustrated by Hiam Safwat and published by Al Alia Publishing House in Egypt
- My New Nightmare, written and illustrated by Lubna Taha and published by Dinosaun Publishing in Palestine
- The Orange Ball, by Tamara Samir Qashha, illustrated by Yeganeh Yaghoob and published by Al Yasmine Publishing House in Jordan
Young Adult category
Shortlisted works in the Young Adult category are:
- Dates and Masala by Mohamed Zakaria Nabulsi, illustrated by Yasser Jueisa and published by W Publishing House in the UAE
- It's Like you Grew a Flower in my Bangs by Anas Abu Rahma, illustrated by Ibrahim Jawabra, and published by Dinason Publishing in Palestine
- Small Escape’ by Afaf Tabbala, illustrated by Mariam Hani Abdel Salam, and published by Nahdet Misr Publishing House in Egypt.
A shortlist was not revealed for the Comics Book category, however, as submissions reportedly did not meet the criteria.
The winning books will each receive Dh180,000, which will be divided equally between authors, illustrators and publishers. Additionally, as part of the award's Warsha programme, Dh300,000 will be dedicated to workshops on how to write and illustrate picture books.
The programme was launched in 2013 with the aim of discovering and nurturing a new generation of writers, illustrators and publishers.
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
