Two prizes to Syrian authors in Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Children’s Literature
The two Syrian storywriters, Rawa’a Sonbul and Hassan Abdul Basit Al-Judi, won the second and third places in the Abdul Hameed Shoman Prize for Children’s Literature in the field of “The fairy tale” for children catergory between 4 and 7 years for the year 2020.
About 1,600 storywriters from different Arab countries participated in this Award which was held in Jordan. The two stories, “Dumdum, the Cloud Maker” by Rawa’a and “Maymoun’s Khartoum” by Al-Judi, acheived the highest number of terms of conditions for participation in the Award, by adhering to the appropriate content for age group, and achieving creative and artistic requirements with appropriate language. In addition to forming a world based on dreams and fantasies that include inherited or modern elements, creating a place where events take place, with strange or exotic characters disconnected with real life, having their own laws.
In a statement to SANA, the storywriter Rawa’a spoke about her love for children’s literature that she first writes for her two daughters, as it is more like a joint workshop with them as she explains. She observes the facial expressions of her daughters while listening to her and listens to their comments, as they often draw the characters or make them out of colored paper.
She indicated that this story is not her first experience in children writing, and won’t be the last. She clarified that she wrote some stories and a theatrical text before, but this is her first experience in heading to the age of early childhood, stressing that writing for this category is not an easy task.
According to Rawa’a, the writer has to select his thought very well, avoiding directness, his language should be simple but attractive, and structure should be both interesting and spectacular.
About her participation in the Shoman Prize, she explained that what motivated her was the specific category “fairy tale” writing, which seemed to be a tempting trial for her. As for her winning story, the writer explained that she tells about Dumdum, the girl who is fond of drawing, and about her grandmother who creates clouds in the form of similar balls that they scatter in the sky, so they look gloomy and boring. The story confirms the importance of being different and unique and the need to dare and make a change. Thus, thanks to Dumdum, the clouds are no longer just similar balls, but have different and delightful shapes.
It is noteworthy that this is the third prize for Rawa’a, as she won first place in the “Sharjah Creativity Competition”. She also reached the short list for the “Rashid Bin Hamad Award” for Theater in the UAE. She has also published two collections of stories.
As for the storywriter, Hassan Al-Judi, he has published seven books on poetry and one story. He won several prizes, including the “Dr. Suad Al-Sabah Prize” and “Al-Asfari Cultural Award”.
Amal Farhat