“Whenever a thought pops into my mind, I write – whether I am surrounded by candles, in the midst of noise or in the middle of the street…” With these words of encouragement spoke Dr. Tariq Bakri, author of many children's books, to children at the literary encounter organized Monday, January 23, 2017, at the Child Center-Gaza/AMQF, via Skype, as part of the Rainbow winter calendar at the House of Literature children’s club.
Children from the Creative Writing Corner at the ‘Extracurricular Activities for Wajd Children’ Project took part in the event – a first for them. The said project is an initiative implemented by the Child Center for the second year now. It aims to enable children orphaned in the 2014 assault on Gaza to express themselves, develop their capacities and talents and achieve better social integration. As to Wajd, it is a unique program launched by Taawon (Welfare Association) to support children orphaned during the 2014 aggression on the Gaza Strip. It is mainly funded by Qatar Fund for Development (QFD) and receives co-funding from Bank of Palestine and the Hajj Hashim Atta Shawa Fund.
The event aimed to allow children from the club and the Project to interact with the author and become acquainted with his experience in the field of children’s literature. Bakri is the author of several books for young readers, most notably The Secret of the Bag, Princess Kahraman, The Lord of the Castle, The Dreammaker, The Bus and The Face of the Moon.
Muhannad Abed (13 years old) from the House of Literature club participated at the event. “These encounters encourage and inspire me to read more, and this helps me write better,” he said.
Maram Sammour (12 years old), a participating child from the Wajd program, said, “It is a new and beautiful experience that I will never forget”. During the encounter, Maram asked Bakri what he would have liked to be, had he not been a writer. She wishes to be a poet when she grows up.
When concluding, Bakri highlighted the importance of continuous reading in enriching the children’s minds. He encouraged them to pursue their paths in creative writing and to strive to produce good literature in the future, as it will open up many horizons for them.
Tariq Bakri is a Lebanese national living in Kuwait. He is a jury member at the Kuwaiti State Incentive Award for Children’s Literature (2013-2014) and a winner of the King Abdullah II Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of children's literature. He has published many books and stories for young readers, including The Surgeon series (3 volumes), The Lavish Forest series (four stories), The Young Scientists series (8 stories), and the two novels Munir and A Journey to Malaysia.