A.J. Mohammad Shafeer’s Keemiya has won the first Gulf India Friendship Association (GIFA) literature award.
The jury that selected Keemiya consisted of Prof. M Abdul Ali who is the chairman, journalist Ammar Keezhuparambu and Banna Chendamangalur. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1,00,001, a citation and a plaque.
GIFA works towards enhancing Indo-Gulf friendship and brings together people with interests in art and literature.
The award will be handed over to Shafeer in December at an event in Kozhikode. Qatar’s Brilliant Education Centre has sponsored this year’s award.
The objective behind introducing an award is to identify and encourage talent, GIFA chairman Prof. M Abdul Ali said.
The award committee judged that Keemiya’s originality is on par with the high intellectual, poetic and philosophical standards seen in world literature.
The award committee also pointed out the scope of Keemiya’s academic potential, crediting the novel’s recreation and poetic narration of archetypal forms involving Dravidian verses, mosque inscriptions, chronicles and so on.
Shafeer’s first book, a collection of poems called Samudrathekaal Pazhakkameriya Marakkappal, won Sahitya Akademi’s Kanakasree award. Shafeer is the son of A.K Jamal and Zubaida and hails from Kodungallur.
Anyone interested in art and literature can join GIFA, a friendship association of representatives with similar interests from all Gulf nations. To join GIFA, call – 00974 55526275.