Sharjah24: Cairo, the Egyptian capital, recently hosted a ceremony honoring the winners of the 27th Sharjah Arab Creativity Award (first edition). The award is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and organized by the Department of Cultural Affairs at the Department of Culture in Sharjah in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.

During the ceremony, Dr. Hisham Azmi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Culture, received Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Head of the Sharjah Department of Culture, and Professor Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qasir, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Secretary-General of the Award. 

Al Owais expressed his happiness with this cultural cooperation between the Sharjah Department of Culture and the Ministry of Culture in Egypt. He also stressed the keenness of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi to continue these diverse cultural activities because of their impact on the Arab intellectual and writer. He emphasized the importance of providing the Arab cultural arena with more giving and cultural richness. Al Owais conveyed the greetings of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah to all participants in the activities of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity in its 27th session.

Dr. Hisham Azmi praised the continued support of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah for Arab culture. This support will enhance the status of the Arab intellectual in society and allow them to play their important role in enlightening others. Dr. Azmi extended his thanks to His Highness for this support.

The award ceremony was held at the Culture and Arts Theater of the Supreme Council of Culture in Egypt. It was attended by Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Professor Mohammed Ibrahim, Dr. Hisham Azmi, and a group of Egyptian and Arab intellectuals, writers, academics, and artists.

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah directed that the celebration of the winners be transferred to other Arab countries. The award was first held outside the UAE in 2019, in Egypt. Since then, it has been hosted in multiple Arab destinations. Egypt was a new destination for the award and its movement among Arab countries. The expansion and movement of the award in the Arab world reflects the vision of the Sharjah Cultural Project, which aims to spread cultural benefits throughout all Arab countries.

At the beginning of his speech, Al Qasir emphasized the importance of brotherhood and cohesion among Arab countries. He pointed out that when it comes to creative Arab youth, they represent great renewed ambitions, dreams, and hopes.

During a recent meeting, Mohammed Al Qasir emphasized the significance of the existing partnership between the Department of Culture in Sharjah and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. He explained that the meeting was a result of this collaboration, which has continued to grow over time. This cooperation has given rise to various creative spaces, including the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity - First Edition, which supports youth in fields such as poetry, short stories, novels, children's literature, theatre, and literary criticism.

The Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity has been a milestone on the Arab creative scene since its launch in 1997. It has been a distinguished cultural state and has been inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. His vision emphasizes the importance of culture and creativity and the need to support the youth in various areas.

Al Qasir also highlighted the importance of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah’s directive to expand the award's reach in the Arab world. This directive led to the celebration of the winners in different Arab countries. In 2019, Egypt hosted the award outside of the UAE. The award has also visited multiple Arab capitals and cities, and it is now returning to Egypt to celebrate new names in creativity. The people are excited to be part of this celebration.

"The Arab library has received hundreds of poetry, novels, short stories, criticism, and theatrical publications from the successive cycles of the award. The award witnesses broad Arab participation in each session, attracting more than 500 literary works in this session alone. This highlights the significance of the award to young Arab writers, as it provides them with a starting point to confirm their attendance and prepare for the next stages of giving with confidence, experience, and acquired skills," said Al Qasir.

Al Qsair also emphasized that the Emirate of Sharjah invites previous winners to celebrate the new winners in each session of the award as an affirmation of continued support. The support goes beyond celebrating the victory as previous winners are invited to participate in poetry festivals, literary and intellectual forums, and selecting several names as jury committees for cultural awards supervised by the Department of Culture, ensuring communication remains active and effective.

"Furthermore, a scientific workshop will accompany the award, supervised by Dr. Hussein Hamouda, and with the participation of the winners. The workshop will focus on two topics: "Narrative techniques in the new novel" and "Interactive narration: features and aesthetics," Al Qasir added.

The Director of the Cultural Affairs Department congratulated the winners of the 27th edition of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity - First Edition and conveyed the greetings of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah. He expressed his gratitude to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture for their sincere efforts in making the event a success. He said, "It is a happy occasion for us to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture for its sincere efforts in making this session a success. We are also pleased to congratulate the winners of the 27th edition of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity - First Edition. In this regard, I have the honor to convey the greetings of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and his wishes for success to you."

Hisham Azmi welcomed the audience at the beginning of his speech and expressed his pleasure to host them at the Supreme Council of Culture, the Egyptian House of Culture, for the second time this year. He said, "Welcome, dear guests, to Al Moez Cairo, which is always happy to welcome the brothers from the United Arab Emirates." Azmi also mentioned that they met earlier in March within the framework of the Sharjah Cultural Honors Forum initiative. He continued, "We meet today in another cultural event entitled the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity (first edition). As Egypt was the first country to host this award from outside the United Arab Emirates in 2019, it is pleased to host the award for the second time."

The Secretary General of the Supreme Council explained that the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity aims to support talented and creative writers throughout the Arab world. The award specializes in manuscripts prepared for the first publication by the writer, which have not previously been published in a book in various fields. He added, "It is a well-deserved appreciation for those taking their first steps in the process of thought and creativity in their homelands. It is a message and an incentive for their peers to achieve more brilliance and creativity."

Azmi stated that the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity is part of Sharjah's cultural project, which is a continuation of a series of promising cultural initiatives. The project is under the generous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and is managed by the Sharjah Department of Culture. The cultural medium in Egypt oversees the project with great appreciation.

The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Culture congratulated the young innovators who will be honored and wished them prosperity in the future. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais and Mohammed Al Qasir, accompanied by Hisham Azmi, presented the 18 winners with certificates of appreciation for their creative efforts. The Department of Cultural Affairs had previously revealed the winners' names during a press conference.

Following the award ceremony, the scientific workshop started. It was titled “Narrative Techniques in the Contemporary Novel” and included two main axes: “Narrative Techniques in the New Novel” and “Interactive Narrative: Characteristics and Aesthetics.” The workshop was supervised by the Egyptian writer Dr. Hussein Hamouda.

The first category winners were Shahira Salah Kamal and Ibrahim Ahmed Ardash, who participated in the first section of the workshop.

Ardash's paper was titled “Narrative Techniques in the Contemporary Arabic Novel.” He began by stating that the new contemporary Arabic novel contains numerous techniques, making it difficult for researchers to understand them. This is because the new Arabic novel is a novel of continuous experimentation.

He elaborated: “The contemporary novel derives its realism from miraculous magical realism. This term gained popularity in the 1980s with the emergence of several novels and story writers in Latin America. Its usage continued later in the field of plastic art, particularly, and it was used to indicate a type close to drawing, where the drawn subjects and objects are close in their strangeness to dream worlds.”

Shahira Salah presented a paper titled, “Stream of Consciousness and the Multiplicity of Voices in the New Novel”. Her paper highlighted the fact that the multi-voiced novel is an open novel based on the interaction of literary and artistic genres. It brings together all voices, languages, and social dialects to express freely and democratically its points of view. The imaginary author cedes his authority to the narrator of the narrators, or concedes to the multiple narrators, or dedicates himself to the characters to express their inner worlds and attitudes towards the subject.

Towards the end of the first session, several academics and attendees commented on the two research papers.

On Thursday, the workshop will continue with sessions discussing the topic of “Interactive Narrative: Features and Aesthetics”. The day will also feature poetry readings by the winners in the field of poetry.