(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Emirates writers union pavilion to exhibit books of 10 emirati authors
emirati literature will bask under its own exclusive spotlight at the abu dhabi international book fair (adibf) taking place here on april 30 - may 5 through a special pavilion set up by the emirates writers union (ewu).
the pavilion will promote 10 uae writers presenting 50 of their books.
mohammed al mazrouei and abdullah majid al ali announcing the details of the emirates writers union pavilion at the abu dhabi international book fair which will be held from april 30 to may 5. — supplied photo
“our aim is to bring the volume and quality of emirati intellectual thought to the visitors’ attention” said abdullah majid al ali director of library management at abu dhabi tourism and culture authority (adtca). “we chose the books from three generations of emirati writers covering different genres of literature from short stories novels and poetry to research and studies.”
the 10 featured authors are ali abu al rish jamal matar maryam al saeedi yasser al neyadi hamad bu sarai fatima sultan al mazrouei sultan al amimi amina al shamsi mohsen sulaiman and salem abu jomhour.
oral poetry aside emirati literature is still very young and the ewu hopes that adibf which has a well developed international professional programme and big names in the publishing and distribution industry taking part is the right platform to attract regional and european attention to uae writing.
“i would say emirati literature started in the mid 60s one of our first published writer being abdullah sakr who is now a trainer for the national football team” mohammed al mazrouei head of administration at ewu told khaleej times. since the 60s poetry and short stories have taken off quite smoothly being the most successful types of emirati literature while novels and criticism are still taking baby steps.
to help develop the uae literature the union is collaborating with several entities of adtca such as qalam which publishes and distributes emirati books. “through adtca we have 22 books by emirati writers translated to german 10 to urdu seven to italian and the ministry of culture will translate 25 titles to english” pointed out al mazrouei.
at its adibf pavilion ewu will mostly present titles in arabic although there will be some translated works as well.
apart from promoting books the pavilion will also organise seminars and literary evenings. among those there will be the 50th commemoration since the death of the poet badr shakir al sayyab. marking the event the ewu will host farouk shousha and al sayyab’s son guilan al sayyab who will share their memories of the pioneer of modern arab poetry.
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