The Mu'taz and Rada Sawwaf Arabic Comics Initiative, which is an academic body for the study of Arabic Comics at the American University of Beirut, has announced the postponement of the Mahmoud Kahil Award ceremony over the coronavirus outbreak.
The ceremony was postponed to 2021, the Initiative announced on Friday.
But the event organizers have insisted on announcing the winners who were expected to visit Beirut this week to receive their awards at a huge ceremony.
Bahrain’s Sara Qaed, who lives in the United Kingdom, was the winner of the Editorial Cartoons, which has the highest prize of $10,000. While Lebanon’s Lena Merhej won in the Graphic Novel category.
Mohamed Taha from Egypt was the winner of the Children’s Book Illustration category.
The initiative also announced Iraq’s Hussein Adil as the winner of the Comics category.
The winner of Graphic Illustration was Hassan Manasrah from Jordan.
The Mahmoud Kahil Award aims to promote comics, editorial cartoons and illustration in the Arab world through the recognition of the rich talent.
It has two additional honorary awards.
The Lifetime Achievement Hall of fame went to Lebanon’s George Khoury. While The Comics Guardian Award went to Tunisia’s Lab619.
