FROM LEFT: Dr Moza Al Malki, Salah Ghazib and Bushra Nasser at the forum at Katara yesterday. Kammutty VP
A section of the audience.
BY MOHAMMAD OSMAN
DOHA: The first Qatari writers’ symposium at Katara yesterday put the spotlight on challenges being faced by Qatari writers.
The recently launched Katara Cultural Forum, which will be held every three months, serves as a platform for Qatari writers to discuss pressing issues in their field.
Lack of support and programmes for writers, high cost of publication and censorship were among the problems encountered by writers, according to Dr Zakiya Malallah.
“The cost of printing is high and there are no specialised publishing houses catering to literary and intellectual works. There are also no programmes to encourage writing such as awards for poets and authors,” Dr Malallah said as she discussed ‘Problems and challenges facing authors in Qatar’ based on her experience.
Budget should be allocated to encourage writers and poets to produce work, she said, adding electronic publishing had also affected the production of books.
She also highlighted the growing dominance of foreign languages such as English over Arabic.
Poet Ali Mirza echoed similar views and said Qatari writers and poets couldn’t express their cultural identity locally and regionally through writing because nobody supported them to publish and distribute their works.
In addition, there is no one to critique their writings academically to produce high quality works, he said, speaking on ‘Challenges facing Qatari Arts’.
Dr Hind Al Muftah pointed out the dearth of innovation by writers and said many just “copy and paste” trying to mimic writers from other countries. She was speaking on ‘The role of culture and innovation in society’s development’.
Speaking to The Peninsula, Mirza said the event had been long awaited.
“I’m satisfied with the outcome. I expect after three months we would jointly work to develop plans and work for the future.”
He said the forum could be used as a stepping stone for laying down the foundation for writers and intellectuals to create seminal intellectual and literary works.
Dr Moza Al Malki said the event was an excellent opportunity to bring intellectuals and writers together to exchange experiences and concerns.
“I hope for the next meetings we will have new names and involve the youth,” said Dr Al Malki who focused on ‘Language being developed by teenagers using social media and the Internet’.
One of her observations was that Arab teenagers, in communicating with each other via the Internet, have developed a new strategy to communicate in Arabic using English language.
As the Qatari community is open to cultures, it is natural for a language to be influenced by other cultures and it is human nature to create and modify new things using language, she said.
Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti said the symposium came at the start of a five-year strategy of Katara and was organised to support Qatari writers and intellectuals by providing them with a platform to discuss issues related to arts, writing and publication and enable them to play a pivotal role in national development.
He said the forum might host writers from other GCC and Arab countries to exchange experiences with local writers.
Dr Fathma Al Suwaidi spoke on ‘Identity Crisis and Innovations’ and Bushra Nasser discussed ‘Innovations and change for young writers’ at the forum.
The Peninsula
