Books — Made in UAE
Workshop with writer Anja Tuckermann

© Goethe-Institut The project „Books – Made in UAE“ advanced to its third edition with a four-day creative writing workshop for Emirati children’s book authors. Organised by the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region in collaboration with the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UABBY), the workshop was taught by well-known German children’s and young adult book author Anja Tuckermann.
 

After focusing on the science fiction and fantasy genre in the 2013 edition of the „Books – Made in UAE“ project, the attention in 2014 was directed again on children’s books and books for young readers. The authors learned useful techniques on how to find a subject and how to develop a storyline that grabs the reader’s attention. In several writing exercises that were, amongst others, targeted on the characterization of a protagonist, on peripheral settings or descriptions and on enthralling dialogues, the participants were given the chance to practise their skills. Lively discussions within the group, the valuable feedback and plenty of useful tips from Anja Tuckermann helped the young talents to enhance their creative output.

„It was a wonderful experience for me to work with these young Emirati ladies and to have been able to get a glimpse of the experiences of the participants“, said Anja Tuckermann after the workshop. „They are very talented and highly motivated which assures me that the outcome of this workshop will be the release of some fantastic children’s books.“

„The workshop was very informative“, Eman Abbas AlRaesi said. „It opened my eyes for many things that I didn’t know about before when writing a book.“ Reem Qahtan, an Abu Dhabi-based artist who had also participated in previous workshops of the Goethe-Institut, was very pleased, too: „It was a very inspiring workshop. It took me back to times when I was a kid, when I used to hold a pen to keep writing. It gave me back the serenity and focus of being indulged with words again.“ Sumaiya Al Mansoori was convinced: „The workshop gave me a chance to think more about writing children's books and also made me learn to open my mind to read more books such as novels. It was wonderful, with an excellent instructor and very well organised.”

The project „Books – Made in UAE” is organised by the the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region and UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and sponsored by Knowledge without Borders and the Emirates Foundation.