The names of the qualifiers for the final phase for the five themes of the “Children Literature Prize” were announced by the Prize Committee. The list consists of 15 authors out of 549 participants. The prize for children songs was withheld as the works presented did not rise to the required quality. In literature studies, Osama Abd-El-Dayem, Egypt, was shortlisted for his study on “the Centrality of the Child in the child-targeted literature text: Towards a Foundational Theory for the Literary Production and Criticism’ Events”; Mostafa Rajwan, Morocco, was shortlisted for his study “Child Literature Between Imagination and Circulation: A Study in Rhetoric”; and Ould Mitaly, Mauritania, for his study “Child Literature in Mauritania: excavation in the structure of text”.
In the category of Poetry, Said Ebeid, Morocco, was shortlisted for his poem “Wings, Expectations and Stars”; Said Benayyad, also from Morocco, was shortlisted for his poem “the Scent of Innocence”; and Mostafa Al-Ghalban, Palestinian, for his poem “The Journey to Save the World”.
In the category of theatrical script, Rabei Morshed, Syrian, was shortlisted for his script “The Bright Star”. With his script “The King and the Clever Man”, Adel Ali, Tunisian, was shortlisted too. And finally, Wafaa Al Shamamsy, Sultanate of Oman, was shortlisted with her script “Bye bye PUBG”. In Novels category, Safaa El Beily, Egypt was shortlisted for her novel “Suto Buto”. Luqman Abul Ainain, from Egypt too, was selected for his novel “the Valley of Ants”. With his novel “Eid Stars”, Mansour Amaira, Jordanian, was qualified for the finals. Lastly, in the Story category; Omama Kaziz, Morocco, for her story “Sahar and the Teacher of her Grandpa”. Ezz Eddien ben Masoud, Algeria, for his story “The Pearl Necklace”; and Lamia Al-Khamis, Syrian, for her story “This Shadow Looks Nothing Like Me”.
The The State Prize for Children Literature is one of the Arab Prizes launched by the state of Qatar, under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The Prize was incepted in 2005; and the first edition was launched in 2008. This year the eighth edition of the Prize for the year 2019 kicks off. The prize has won literary and intellectual reputation, with the great numbers of participants who compete on each of the prize categories, including authors, writers and other creators with outstanding contributions; both Qataris and Arabs. The State Prize for Children Literature endeavors to always be a distinctive and creative hallmark among the Children Prizes, not only at the Arab level, but worldwide. This achievement was made with the benevolent care and attention of our Leader, H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the belobed Emir of the country, ad H.H. the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, may Allah protect them; in addition to H.H. Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, who took the lead in the inception and continuity of the Prize. The Board of Trustees and Directors of the Prize Committee are proud to take this cultural responsibility, and is hopeful that more hard work will be done for the production of fine child literature works that would develop the child’s literary and cultural capabilities and create literary awareness among children, and enrich the Qatari and Arab library with literary and artistic works in the fields of heritage inspired child literature. With even greater honor, we recall the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, under the continuing support and care of H.E. the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem Al-Ali Al Maadeed, for the promotion of thought and culture in Qatar.