Amman: Three winners of the first and second seasons of the Dr. Yacoub Nasereddin Award for Free Reading and Creative Writing spoke to Middle East University students during a dialogue session entitled “Zad Al-Nuha” about the impact of reading on character formation and building and its strong positive impact on empowering the skills of writing and speaking in those who accept and master them.
This came during a meeting organised by the award committee, headed by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Educational Sciences, Prof. Ahmed Musa, moderated by the award committee member and cultural club advisor, Dr. Jumana Al-Salem, and attended by a number of faculty members at the faculty, students of the Arabic Language Department, and members of the cultural club.
The following were the participants in the session:
The winners of the first and second seasons were, respectively, Sarah Atri, a student from Zarqa University, and Loujain Sabah, a student from Princess Sumaya University. Rawaa Abu Bakr, a student from Middle East University, came in third place in the second season. Additionally, Mayar Al-Duwairi and Marh Al-Duwairi, students from Yadouda Secondary School for Girls, have repeatedly won the Arab Reading Challenge competitions and excelled in writing short stories and essays.
During the session, held in cooperation with the Cultural Club at the university’s Deanship of Student Affairs, participants reviewed the role of universities in enhancing this skill. They praised the Dr. Yacoub Nasereddin Award, which they received after a series of interviews and impartial professional procedures. The award serves as a starting point for them to continue reading purposefully and responsibly, which opens horizons for them towards sound language skills and sober thought, expression, and performance. This is one of the most important objectives of the award, which achieved remarkable success in its first (2021–2022) and second (2022–2023) seasons.
The competition is currently in the judging phase for entries submitted in its third season, covering free reading, essay writing, and short story writing.