Dh1.2 million award, Nobel prize winner and American celebrity coming to Sharjah book fair

on Oct 21, 2021

The 2021 Nobel Laureate for Literature, Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, will lead the list of international literary luminaries from 13 countries who will participate in the 40th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2021), which takes place from November 3 to 13 at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Organised by Sharjah Book Authority, the book fair boasts an extensive programme of 440 cultural activities, which will include literary talks and panel discussions led by renowned authors, writers, and journalists from around the world.

Here are some of those visiting SIBF 2021:

USA

Among the headlining personalities at SIBF 2021 is American film producer, entrepreneur and bestselling author Chris Gardner, whose novel ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ has been translated into more than 40 languages, including Arabic, and was adapted to an award-winning film starring Hollywood movie star Will Smith. UK

The Ugandan-born British short story writer and novelist Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, who won the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, is the author of The First Woman, Manchester Happened and Kintu.

Africa

Serial entrepreneur, speaker, and author of Where Beauty Blossoms, I am, Swaady Martin will enrich SIBF with the point of view from Ivory Coast in West Africa, while two authors from Kenya will bring the East African perspective to SIBF 2021.

India

Bestselling essayist Amitav Ghosh’s work has been translated into more than 30 languages. His essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Times. They have been anthologised under the titles The Imam and the Indian, and Incendiary Circumstances.

Dh1.2 million award

Sixteen titles of 14 authors representing 11 publishers from six Arab countries have been shortlisted for the 13th edition of the Dh1.2 million ‘Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature’, organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People and supported by the Etisalat Group.

The winners of the award will be announced at a ceremony held during SIBF 2021.

Categories

The award comprises of five categories valued at Dh180,000 for each and distributed equally between the author, illustrator, and publisher with Dh60,000 for each, except for the ‘Young Adult Book’ category, which will be equally distributed between the author and publisher with Dh90,000 for each.

Additionally, as part of the award’s ‘Warsha’ programme, which was launched in 2013 with the aim to discover and nurture a new generation of writers, illustrators and publishers, Dh300,000 will be dedicated to workshops that harness people’s ability to write and illustrate children’s books. Source - Gulf News