The Annual Awards Show Celebrated Young Literary Talent For The 9th Year Running
The annual Young Muslim Writers Awards was hosted at the iconic Senate House in a dazzling awards ceremony celebrating young literary talent.
Now in its 9th year, the Young Muslim Writers Awards received hundreds of submissions to its short story and poetry competition. Forty writers aged 5-16 were shortlisted whose writing was put before an internationally renowned panel of judges including Debjani Chatterjee MBE, Birmingham poet laureate Dreadlockalien and award-winning poet Nathalie Handal.
Winners of the competition were announced on 18th October at London’s iconic Senate House in front of a packed audience of notable representative from the arts, media and education communities. Along with the awards presentations, guests were treated to performances by award winning storyteller Alia AlZougbi, global singer/songwriter Saif Adam and duo singing act Saffiya and Amaani. The afternoon ceremony was hosted by former Birmingham poet laureate Dreadlockalien, and guests also enjoyed inspirations speeches and a drinks and buffet reception.
The project, run by Muslim Hands – an international charity and relief organisation, aims to raise the standards of child literacy and enrich the lives of young people. This year’s competition was once again presented by the Yusuf Islam Foundation, an umbrella organisation promoting education, the alleviation of poverty and community development.
Chairman of Muslim Hands, Lakhte Hassanain said,” Over the years we have thoroughly enjoyed working with young people, whether they are orphans or pupils we support in developing countries, or whether they are keen writers in the UK. We want to nurture talent, instil a love for the written word and develop more confident communicators. By developing the writing skills of young people we hope to create a more vibrant society.”
“We were very impressed with the continual improvement in the submissions we received this year and look forward to meeting the young stars at October’s awards ceremony.”
The ceremony was filmed by Islam Channel, due for broadcast later. The channel has been the official media partner of the project since the first ceremony in 2006.
