At Promenade Culture Centre, words took center stage. Naktub Festival launched a warm, hands-on invitation to read, write, and make art together. Over three days, Palestinian writer-poet Anas Abu Rahma and illustrator-author Lubna Taha guided participants through the joyful mechanics of story and image, revealing how a tale begins, how pictures carry meaning, and how a finished book can feel like a small, beautiful world in your hands. The atmosphere was intimate and collaborative: tables strewn with paper and textures, children whispering ideas, adults rediscovering the courage to write from the heart. It was not about perfection. It was about belonging to language.
Anas and Lubna are a creative duo in life and on the page. Based in Ramallah, they have built a body of acclaimed Arabic children’s literature that travels across libraries, classrooms, and living rooms in the region and beyond. Anas is a poet and children’s author whose works have earned major recognition, including an Etisalat Award for Children’s Books for “A Story about S and L,” and the Children’s Book Publishers Forum Award for “The Yellow Corn Inn.” Lubna is an award-winning illustrator and writer celebrated for intricate, emotion-rich visuals; she won the Etisalat Award for “Mama Bint Safi” and founded Dinason Publishing House for Children’s Books in Palestine. Together, they continue to publish and collaborate, most recently appearing on the International Award for Arabic Children’s Literature shortlist in 2024 for “Pillow.”
Naktub’s program was thoughtfully sequenced to welcome different ages and comfort levels. The Book-Writing Workshop with Anas opened the festival with an engaging introduction to the art of children’s storytelling. Participants explored how stories take shape—from structure and voice to imagination and empathy—while learning the essentials of writing for young readers. More than technique, his focus was on ease: writing as a daily practice of noticing, documenting, and feeling, rather than striving for grandness on the first try.
Friday was for younger creators. Lubna’s Collage turned simple materials into characters with interior lives. Children built three-panel figures that unfolded into bold personalities, then anchored them in short narratives. At the same time, Anas’s Creative Writing and Imagination Exercises helped kids expand vocabulary, catch small observations, and claim ownership of their words. Reading, he reminded them, is the door to writing.
On Saturday, the two joined forces for Storytime and Art. Drawing from a story about two illustrators preparing an exhibition at home, they showed that artist and storyteller live in each of us. In the tale, mother and child render the same subject in different ways, each true. The workshop ended with a keepsake: a soft pillow of joint creativity that families could take home and cherish, a tiny exhibition traveling from fridge doors to bedtime rituals. Practical notes mattered too. Sessions were intentionally accessible: no prior experience required, nothing to bring beyond an open heart.
Naktub is also a cultural statement. Hosting Palestinian creators in Kuwait at this particular moment underscores why arts education and literary exchange are essential. Children’s literature preserves memory, language, and nuance. It carries tenderness and truth across borders, teaching empathy along the way. In Anas and Lubna’s practice, craft and care travel together: words meet images, ideas meet hands, and communities meet on the page. As their biographies remind us, this is work rooted in place and purpose. They live and create in Ramallah, and their partnership in life enriches their partnership in art.
For Promenade Culture Centre, Naktub Festival sets a clear direction: participatory learning, regional voices, and programs that leave families with skills they can keep using at home. It is an invitation to come back, to read together, to write without fear, and to make another tiny book. In a busy city, that is a gift.
Keep an eye on Promenade Culture Centre for upcoming programs and events by following @PCCKuwait on Instagram.
