Guadalajara International Book Fair: Emirati authors inspire young writers in schools in Mexico

  • Date: 03-Dec-2022
  • Source: Gulf News
  • Sector:Education
  • Country:UAE
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Guadalajara International Book Fair: Emirati authors inspire young writers in schools in Mexico

Guadalajara: As part of Sharjah’s Guest of Honour programme at the ongoing Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), the emirate organised four school visits to introduce Emirati and Arab literature to Mexican students aged between 14-19. Under the ‘School visits’ programme launched by FIL, the initiative is aimed at providing an opportunity to thousands of students in Mexican schools as well as the University of Guadalajara to meet authors, illustrators, and media figures participating in the annual book fair. The students will learn from these professionals about their works through workshops and discussions. The programme also focuses on instilling reading habits among the younger generations. Over the course of four days, a number of Emirati authors led a series of workshops and seminars highlighting the UAE’s achievements and introduced students in Mexico to Emirati and Arab cultures. These workshops and seminars shed light on Sharjah’s cultural project that is founded on building bridges between civilisations and cultures around the world. Author and illustrator Alia Al Shamsi, director of Cultural Programming at Louvre Abu Dhabi museum, led the first school visit where she shared her journey about authoring and illustrating her first book Alayah, which received the Dubai Culture Publishing Award 2017,