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| Source: Ithra. Winners of iRead 2022. |
The President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, Engineer Amin bin Hassan Nasser, made the announcement at the closing ceremony of the 7th iRead in late June. Al-Nasser additionally hoped that the Nobel Prize for Literature will be awarded to a Saudi author in the future, and that iRead will play a role towards that achievement.
Hussain Hanbazazah, the Director of Ithra, said: "iRead has witnessed rapid development since its inception in 2013, as well as an increase in the number of participants which to date exceeded 75,000 readers. With its continued growth, Ithra has continually developed the programme on an annual basis, expanding and enhancing it further so that more bibliophiles can have the opportunity to join.
"Reading is one of the pillars of the Arabic language, and one that can become a tool of human development and innovation."
Hanbazazah additionally pointed out the role played by the competition in promoting knowledge and raising awareness by encouraging youth to compete, and praised the role that Ithra continues to play in nurturing a passion for literature and reading through its library, which has received more than 1 million visitors since the centre's inception.
Winners at the 7th iRead included:
- Khazina Al Shammari, Reading Ambassador
- Khuloud Al Anzi, Reading Ambassador
- Maha Al Omari, Reading Ambassador
- Munira Al Hwaidi, Translation Ambassador
- Wijdan Al Widyani, Translation Ambassador
- Marwan Al Rasheed, Translation Ambassador
- Zainab Al Nasser, Young Reader- Mohammad Al Khalifa, Young Reader
- Shahd Al-Qaisum, voted Reader of the Year by the audience.