Sharjah writers' workshops focus on kids

Sharjah - The three-day activity Al Noor Island, was hosted by Fatima Sharafeddine, an accomplished author of children's books.

A series of workshops organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) offered 20 authors valuable advice on honing their craft.
The three-day activity, at Sharjah's popular tourist destination Al Noor Island, was hosted by Fatima Sharafeddine, an accomplished author of children's books.
Held on the sidelines of the 35th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), currently underway at Expo Centre Sharjah, the sessions formed part of the UAEBBY's 'Warsha' programme. This is an innovative initiative supported by the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature that aims to build a new generation of professionals working in the Arab children's book industry.
"Through the Warsha programme, we are working to achieve the objectives of the UAEBBY and the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature, which aim to elevate the quality of Arabic children's and young adults' books. We are building the capabilities of promising authors, illustrators and publishers by organising workshops to hone their skills and develop their talents in their respective areas of interest and expertise," said Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of the UAEBBY Executive Board.
"The creative writing workshop aims to shed light on the principles of writing for children and young adults. It featured discussions, the exchange of experiences and writing activities that focus on finalising the story and preparing it for publishing," said Fatima Sharafeddine, author and translator of children's books.
Workshop day-by-day
The first day of the Warsha programme's workshops focused on comic books, on transforming words into pictures and illustrations appealing to children and young adults. The interactive session trained the participants to extract ideas and reproduce them into a fully integrated story suitable for the Arab children's literature genre. It also highlighted the importance of strengthening ties between authors and illustrators, showing how by working in synergy they can elevate the quality of children books.
The workshops' second day addressed the use of different styles of writing, expressions and idioms, how to edit text after writing the first draft and how to evaluate the story. It shed light on the importance of choosing publishers, learning their way of thinking and preparing the text for submission. This enables the publisher to assess the book's quality, define what makes it distinguishable and decide on its suitability for the target age group.
The third day's workshop explored the specifications of young adults' books and discussed the importance of research and planning in creating the story's characters, in particular, how to develop the main protagonist. The workshop also addressed how to choose the narrative style, dialogue and story line, with a focus on the first chapter and the last chapter and the 'Open End' novel style.
Author Fatima Sharafeddine has won several awards, prizes and honour mentions, the latest being the prestigious Italian Bologna Ragazzi Award for her book Lisanak Hisanak (Tongue Twists), published by Kalimat, UAE. She has authored around 120 books, many of which have been translated into multiple languages.
- reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Sharjah