Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre launches new award to highlight Emirati heritage

Golden Narrative Award aims to highlight the work of new writers and honour established authors

The awards will be a vehicle to discover emerging writing talent while honouring established storytellers. Photo: BCW Global

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre has launched the Golden Narrative (Sard Al Thahab) Award at Al Dhafra Book Festival.

Presented annually, the Golden Narrative Award will highlight the best short stories, both published and unpublished, by new or emerging writers and established ones in genres such as graphic stories and works of historical literary fiction.

One of the aims of the newly launched award is to preserve the art of storytelling in contemporary works of fiction. Authors and aspiring writers will have the chance to highlight and explore Emirati culture from history, celebrated and notable figures, geography and folklore, through storytelling.

“Through this award, we will further our strategy to strengthen the UAE’s culture and identity, while enriching and preserving the Arabic language,” said Ali Bin Tamim, chairman of the centre.

“We also aim to encourage creativity, and motivate Arab generations to use their imagination and express their experiences.”

The awards will also be a vehicle to discover emerging writing talent and publish their fictional works while honouring established storytellers in the short story genre.

“This award is of great significance because it draws inspiration from the art of narration in all its forms in the Arabic language, which has long been an integral part of Arab literary tradition from its earliest days,” said Bin Tamim.

The Golden Narrative Award will have six prize categories.

These include the Short Story Prize for unpublished stories and the Short Story Collection Prize awarded to published Emirati or Arab stories, which are inspired by heritage.

The Popular Narratives Prize will honour works that collect popular folktales and contribute to the formation of a cultural identity, or notable studies that analyse these tales, while the Narrators and Biographers Prize will celebrate narrators of popular literature and biographies from the UAE and the wider Arab world.

Other categories include the Illustrated Story Prize, which focuses on stories that rely on images as part of the storytelling structure, and the Emirati Storytelling Prize, honouring literary works that explore Emirati identity, inspired by the UAE’s history, geography and symbols.

Iraq International Book Fair opens in Baghdad — in pictures