The Emirates Literature Foundation’s search for the nation’s best young story writers has begun, with the launch of its annual creative writing competition for students, the Story Writing Competition.
A fixture on the academic calendar, the competition runs in Arabic and in English and is open to full-time students in schools, colleges, and universities in the GCC. It is divided into age-specific categories: 11 and under, 12-14, 15-17, and 18-25. The winners will be honoured in a special ceremony held during the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in 2022, and the winning entries are published in an anthology.
The competition is tremendously popular, with more than 3,600 stories being entered last year. This year the theme for the competitions is ‘Here Comes the Sun’. The deadline for submissions is 3rd November 2021.
Isobel Abulhoul, CEO and Trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation, commented: “The 2022 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. I can’t wait to see how the entrants this year develop their narratives as they unleash their imaginations.”