After 13 years of publication, the Egyptian Novel “A ¼ gram” won the King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein Award for Creativity, at the 10th edition of 2019/2020, whereby the novelist and presenter of “Al-Abakera” program, Essam Youssef became the first Egyptian to win the Award since its launch in 2002.
As per the reasons why the novel qualified to receive the award, Youssef said that the novel that was read more than a 5-million time, won the award because of the credibility of its information and the importance of the drugs topic to any family where there is a drug addict or even suspect that any of its members may be exposed to addiction.
Youssef: the details included in the novel acted as a “torch of light” to anyone who wanted to to take drugs or was an addict
Youssef added in statements to “Trendify” that the details included in the novel acted as a “torch of light” to anyone who wanted to to take drugs or was an addict. Moreover it serves as a guide for parents on how to deal with an addicted son or daughter.
An award came late for the novel after more than a decade since it was published because "I didn't apply for any awards". In addition, the novel is considered specialized in prevention, awareness and finding solutions. So, this is considered the reason why the novel qualified to receive the award.
Youssef: Youth are the hope and future of the country and our generation's responsibility mainly is to provide them with all the tools they need
Youth has always been on top of Youssef’s priorities which was materialized in his choice of topics and programs to present. “Youth are the hope and future of the country and our generation's responsibility mainly is to provide them with all the tools needed to be creative and lead the better future they deserve”, Youssef said.
Youssef: I am currently preparing for a program with the United Nations
Youssef mentioned that he is currently preparing for publishing his next novel “Kasr Al Baron” at the end of the year and a new program with the United Nations that will also be targeted to youth empowerment as its main focus would be on the youth entrepreneurs.