Abu Dhabi: “Gulf”

The 73rd edition of the Frankfurt International Book Fair 2021, to be held from 20 to 24 October 2021, features the Sheikh Saeed Book Award at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center affiliated with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. The slogan is “Reunion”.

The award program includes cultural events, the organization of three dialogue sessions, and a range of the most important topics that will enrich the discussions of the exhibition and attract the interest of its audience, authors and publishers. The debates will be broadcast live in English by Frankfurt Studios and will be shown in Arabic after the award channel on YouTube. In order to ensure its distribution to a large number of visitors around the world.

Dr. Ali bin Tamim, General Secretary of the Award and Chairman of the Center, said: “The award has a rich history of participation in an exhibition that is considered one of the most important world events in literature and publishing. Our participation is very important to us; Being a platform, it brings together a group of leading writers, publishers and influential people from the literary world, especially under one umbrella, especially as the relationship between Arab and German cultures is deeply rooted, and today we see greater integration between the Arabic and German literatures provided by the world’s leading knowledge platforms.

The first session of the award will be held on October 21 under the theme “Arabic Literature has No Limits for Creativity” and will explore the works of many outstanding Arab writers and the reasons that prevent them from accessing the world. The session will be moderated by Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. Participants: Kevin Blankship, Poet, Critic and Translator, Chip Rossetti, Managing Editor of the Library of Arabic Literature and Yasmina Jirozati, Director of Publishing Storidel Dubai, and Founder of the Royal Literary Society.

The second session, entitled “Publishing Arabic Books – Opportunities and Challenges”, will take place on the third day of the exhibition, and will talk about the reasons for preventing works of Arabic literature from entering Western markets. In the branch of publishing and cultural technology, Yasmina Jaisati and editor of the German newspaper (Heinrich Verlock), the session will be moderated by Lena Pope, journalist of the German newspaper Frankfurt.

The third session of the award discusses the topic “Children’s book: story simplification and idea complication” and discusses the importance of developing the skills of experts in writing literary works for children. Participation: Sheikh Saeed Book Award 2020 Writer and Artist Winner for Ibn Taymiyyah Children’s Literature for his Literature: “The Lilac Girl”, and Suleiman Tawfiq, Publisher and CEO and Writer and Translator of Majid Mahid, Sujit Verlock Publishing.