Prof Hamzah: Khalid bin Hamad Young Novelists Award Motivates Creative Writing among Young People

During a meeting with the winner of the Khalid bin Hamad Young Novelists Award, Prof. Riyad Y. Hamzah, President of the University of Bahrain, praised the cultural initiatives launched by His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport and President of Bahrain Athletic Federation.

The Award in its second edition was available to all young people form the GCC countries and encouraged participants to compete to show their outstanding skills in creative writing, added Prof. Hamzah.

Prof. Hamzah received in his office the student Jumana Jafar Al Qassab. He congratulated her on winning first place in the second edition of the Khalid bin Hamad Young Novelists Award for her novel ‘Monsters Do not Die.’ Al Qassab had competed with many other young people from the Gulf region.

Prof. Hamzah also said that ‘by continuing to hone the artistic and creative skills of students, the University of Bahrain has provided both local and international communities with talented young people, who have excelled in all walks of life. Our mission and responsibility as a University is to motivate young people. We believe that developing students’ creativity, ingenuity, and innovation are the keys to success.’

Jumana Al Qassab, a student at the Department of Fine Arts, thanked Prof. Hamzah for receiving her and her father in his office. She also thanked her family, teachers and everyone who had a positive impact on her life. She said that she had always been an avid reader. She read both Arabic and International literature. She started writing at a very young age. The idea of the novel that won her the Award developed over a period of two months. It was about a young girl who was raped by the bus driver on her way to school.

To win the Award, many young people from the GCC countries participated in the competition. Over a period of two days, they were able to write more than 600,000 words (approximately 2,400 pages), at a rate of 100 pages per hour.

This is the third time Jumana Al Qassab’s wins an award. She won the Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Awards for Childhood Creativity twice. In 2013, she won first place, and in 2012, she won second place.