Over the past couple of years, the emirate has been emphasising the reading and writing habits among youngsters and rightly so, the region is also launching several events that inculcate literature among young minds.

One such prominent event is the Emirates Literature Festival that has launched a competition for young writers. Organised by Emirates Literature Foundation, the event is looking for the nation’s best young story writers with the launch of its annual creative writing competition for students.

Full-time students enrolled at school, college, or universities in the GCC can register themselves for the contest. The competition has been divided into four categories –age 11 and under, 12-14 years, 15-17 years, and 18-25 years. Participants can submit their work in Arabic and English languages and the deadline for submission is November 3, 2021.

Additionally, the different age groups have different word counts for the contest. 11 and under can write a maximum of 500 words, 12-14 can write a maximum of 1,000 words, 15-25 can write a maximum of 1500 words. If the story exceeds the word limit of your age group, the submission will not be considered.

Themed ‘Here Comes the Sun’, the winners of the competition will get their stories published in an anthology and will be honoured at a prize-giving event where they will receive a plaque, five copies of the anthology. They will also get the opportunity to attend an Emirates Literature Festival session.

Talking about the event, CEO, and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation Isobel Abulhoul in a statement said, “The theme can be seen as positive and uplifting, but we know from previous years that there is no end to the creativity with which young storytellers can interpret it.”