The Sharjah Publishing City (SPC), under the umbrella of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) and the world’s first publishing free zone, announced its sponsorship of the third edition of Channel Book Club Literature Prize held in Nigeria. It targets school-aged children and young people.

This sponsorship is in lieu with SPC’s mandate to promote a reading culture. SPC seeks to provide a global platform for culture and knowledge exchange between Africa and UAE. This move will attract more publishers, designers, writers, and distributors from Africa whilst introducing them to the industry within UAE. SPC aims to be a key driver of book and publishing industry development in the world. 

This year’s edition of the competition requires participants to summarize Jowhor Ile's novel titled “And After Many Days” in an article of 1500 words maximum. The only condition is to keep the main idea and general structure of the book.

SBA gifts the award-winners the opportunity to visit the 37th edition of Sharjah International Book Fair. The SIBF is a key pillar of Sharjah’s cultural renaissance and the third largest book fairs in the world, with thousands of publishers, writers and visitors from across the world.

Salim Omar Salim, Director of SPC, said: “The SPC promotes Sharjah’s profile as a global hub for culture, literature, and knowledge. This mission aligns with the vision of HH Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, who established a comprehensive cultural project that aims to achieve development, awareness and knowledge renaissance within the society members.”

“The sponsorship of Channel Book Club Prize aligns with SPC’s goals to attract more publishers, authors and readers from Africa. This also facilitates communication between our nations where we can promote cultural and knowledge exchange. We also aim to share leading industry experiences in the UAE and the region,” Salim added.

Sharjah Publishing City was established in 2017 as the world’s very first publishing and printing free zone offering those in the book industry the opportunity to capitalize on an array of benefits emerging from operating within a free zone environment. Further benefits also include the ideal location, at the epicentre of the globe with all the advantages of having the MENA, African, European and Asian region’s marketplace at hand.

Investment in cultural and educational pursuits is high on the list of priorities for His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. Thus, SPC has been established as a conduit of investment into creating a thriving book industry in the world. It keeps with the overall mission of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) which is to foster investment and growth in the publishing and printing sector within the UAE and the International community.