Young Author Award (YAA)
Children’s Literature Festival of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) initiated the first Young Author Award (YAA) in 2019 supported by Open Society Foundations (OSF). It has served as a positive platform for young writers in Pakistan (10-18) to showcase their creativity and critical thinking. The CLF-YAA has been met with overwhelming response from all over Pakistan. Children from all the provinces of Pakistan participated enthusiastically and sent not only their stories but poetry too; 1114 stories are illustrative of their passion for writing. The awards are being extended for submissions in Urdu and English for two age categories, viz. a) 10-13 and b) 14-18 years
The idea behind CLF-YAA is to encourage children to observe, think, imagine, create and write. Writing is not just about putting down words but it is detailed process of transferring one’s thoughts and imagination into words. It requires a certain kind of understanding and connection with the subject; an ultimate result of one’s observations, thought process and critical thinking. The CLF-YAA has encouraged both; the thinking process and creation.
The stories received for YAA reflected a diversity in thoughts and subjects such as, prevalent societal issues: early marriage, divorce, girls education; whilst there are stories on science fiction and others highlighting values of kindness, patriotism kindness, ethics etc. The CLF-YAA motivated children to freely express their thoughts and observations through words.
CLF-YAA 2020-2021 Jury Members: Ms. Sarwat Mohiuddin (Author/Poet), Dr. Narmeen Hamid (Blogger/Storyteller/Health and Gender Advisor), Fauzia Minallah (Artist/Child Author) and Huma Mirza (Author)
CLF-YAA Jury Decision announced on March 17, 2021 Young Author Award Winners 2020-21
CLF-YAA 2019-2020 Jury Members: Ms. Rumana Husain-Author, Mr. Arshad Saeed Husain MD OUP, Ms. Sarwat Mohiuddin- Author/Poet, Ms. Maria Riaz -Author, Ms Shadab Zeest Hashmi-American Poet of Pakistani Origin, Ms. Saman Shamsie -Author, Dr. Narmeen Hamid -blogger, Health & Gender Adviser and Storyteller.
CLF-YAA Jury Decision announced on February 24, 2020 Young Author Award Winners 2019-2020
