October 2022

Abu Dhabi: Najat Al-Fares
Yesterday, Tuesday, the Emirates Writers Union, Abu Dhabi branch, organized a dialogue session that addressed the challenges of writing for children, with the participation of writer Noura Khoury and writer Aisha Al Sheikh, and moderated by researcher Dr. Najia Al Ketbi, in the presence of writer Sheikha Al Jabri, director of the branch, and a number of writers and intellectuals.
Aisha Al-Sheikh said: “I started writing stories for my children and I was drawing the characters of the story, and not everyone can write a story for the child, he must have linguistic ability and the talent for storytelling, and for me, I did not jump into the world of writing out of thin air. Then I moved to writing eloquent poetry without publishing it, and in 1995 I released my first work, the story “Abu Najma” and it may be the first story in children’s literature written by an Emirati storyteller.
She explained that the method of preaching to children in writing is useless unless it is in an indirect framework, indicating the necessity of translating children’s stories and publishing them in both Arabic and English in the same book; As we are facing a generation that prefers reading and mastering the English language at the expense of its mother tongue, stressing the importance of choosing what is presented to the child, and taking into account the age stage for him. Unfortunately, some people don’t take it into account.
Noura Khoury said: “I tried writing poetry and did not find myself as a poet, then I joined the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in several writing courses, in Germany and America, and learned more regarding the secrets of writing, and from there the passion and love began. We are a group of Emirati friends who write for children and read our works to each other and express our opinion About it from a scientific point of view, explaining that she presents the story to children before publishing it. She had previously participated in writing for the “Open Sesame” program when the Gulf Cooperation Council reproduced it in a new way in 2014; At that time, she received a 9-day training course in New York with other writers selected from the Gulf countries.
She added that she has translated a scientific series for children, and a story by a Kuwaiti writer, from Arabic into English, and she participates in workshops to teach children the art of writing traditional letters, and that she uses some local terms, as the classical Arabic language at the present time represents a great challenge for the child, due to the explosion of knowledge on the means of communication. And content directed to the child in English via YouTube, indicating that her books are adventurous and pour into the local environment, through which she is also keen to promote authentic Arab values.
In her intervention, the writer Sheikha Al-Jabri stressed that writing for the child should rely on sound principles and foundations, and be presented in a smooth and interesting way, and that imagination provokes the child’s memory, and we need to teach the child mercy, sympathy, and warmth of feelings, especially in a time of emotional drought, as the means of communication are full of nonsense, Children are in dire need of high-end stories, explaining that the writer Naguib Mahfouz, when asked why you do not write for children? He replied I don’t know, and that writing for a child requires specific techniques, strength and courage.