Emirati and Arab literary favorites at the 13th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival – ARAB TIMES – KUWAIT NEWS

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The cultural luminaries will lead exciting cultural activities for the whole duration of the festival, May 11 – 22in Expo Centre Sharjah

Sharjah, May 4: A group of beloved children’s authors, celebrated actors and other luminaries of the Emirati and Arab arts and culture landscape willlead a host of excitingcultural activities at the 13thSharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), running for 12 days from May 11 – 22 at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Carrying the theme ‘Create Creativity’, the cultural extravaganza will feature more than 1,900 activities, including interactive workshops, live shows and plays, and vibrant panel discussions on a variety of topics surrounding children’s literature and publishing.

This year, SCRF will host Mohamed Henedi, a leading light of Egyptian cinema also renowned for his literary works for children. Syriancomposer and singer Tarek Alarabi Tourgane, best known for composing the theme songs for Arabic animated series,will be performing alongside his children.
Three female writers from the United Arab Emirates are participating in the festival:authorMaryam Al Zarooni;Asma Al Zarooni, novelist, poet and longtime member of the Emirates Writers Union; and award-winning writer Fatima Sultan Al Mazrouei, whohosts workshops on writing children’s stories and has published more than 20 works.

Children’s authorsJekar Khourchid, Haitham Al-Khawaja and Mohannad Alakous, also from Syria, will make an appearance, along withOmar Taher, Egyptian author of Kohl wa Habhan, which was shortlisted for the Naguib Mahfouz Prize for Literature in 2021. In addition to his literary works, Taher has contributed tovarious newspapers and magazines and has written screenplays for several filmsincludingSpecial Operations (2007), Super Henaidy (2008) and You Fly (2009).
Guests from Egypt also include media personality Qaswa Al Khalili; Essam Yousef, author of A ¼ Gram; and children’s authors Fatima Al Zahra Mukhtar;Effat Barakat; Amal Farah, one of the most prominent children’s writers in Egypt and the Arab region; and artist Magdy El Kafrawy.

SCRF will also welcomeDr. Fadia Daas, Jordanian author of more than 38 stories for children;Dr. Tariq Ahmed Al Bakri, author of 50 Children’s Short Stories, from Lebanon; andMohammad Jaraq, winner of the Kuwait incentive award in children’s literature.

Poet and authorFalah Hashem, Sondos Al-Ajram,and illustrator Intelaq Ali from Iraq will also be among those taking part. They will be joined by writers Jaafar Al Diri from Bahrain,Hamoud bin Ali Al Tawqi from Oman, and Mizouni Bannani, winner of the 2021 Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the ‘Children’s Literature’ category for his bookRehlat Fannan (An Artist’s Journey).