Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi

Emirati publishing pioneer and founder of Kalimat Group, driving Arabic children's literature globally

Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi is a transformative figure in the global publishing industry and cultural preservation. As founder of Kalimat Group, she has revolutionized Arabic children's literature since 2020 by creating 1,200+ titles distributed in 40 countries. Her Bodour Award for Promoting Books for Young People has become the Middle East's most prestigious literary prize for children's authors.

In 2021, she launched the Arab Children's Book Bank, providing free access to quality literature for underserved regions. This initiative has distributed 500,000 books across 15 Arab nations through partnerships with UNICEF and UNESCO. Her 2023 project Storytellers Without Borders uses augmented reality to bring Arabic folktales to life, reaching 2 million children globally.

Al Qasimi chairs the International Publishers Association, the first Arab woman in this role. Under her leadership, the IPA's 2024 International Prize for Arabic Children's Literature saw a 300% increase in submissions from non-Arabic speaking countries. She also established the Global Children's Book Summit, held annually in Sharjah since 2022, which attracts 2,000+ industry professionals.

Her recent innovation includes the Scholastic-Kalimat Partnership (2025), creating bilingual Arabic-English books for US schools. Sheikha Bodour's work is celebrated in documentaries like Voices of the Arab Child, and she was named TIME's 'Most Influential People in the Middle East' in 2024.