Participants in Amman International Book Fair: Katara Prize Contributed to Taking Arabic Novels to International Levels

Amman, September 24 (QNA) - During a symposium on Katara's role in enriching the Arabic novel, participants affirmed that the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel contributed to taking the Arabic novels to international levels.
The symposium was organized by the Union of Jordanian Publishers as part of the cultural events at the Amman International Book Fair in Jordan.
Qatar is the guest of honor at the fair. Being held from September 21 to 30 under the slogan "Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine", 400 publishing houses from 22 countries are taking part in fair.
General Manager of the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, alongside Jordanian officials, attended the symposium, in which participating critics considered the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel to be the biggest catalyst for novel creativity and publishing in the Arab region.
Al Sulaiti shared during the symposium Katara's experience and the launch of the award at the beginning of 2014. He outlined the objectives and vision of the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel and noted that one of the most important outcomes of the award is translating the winning novels and critical studies into English and French.
He added that the award is an integrated cultural project that includes transforming distinguished novels into drama through the novel and theater project, celebrating Arab art with the novel and fine art award, launching an application that allows listening to the award-winning audiobooks, launching Katara's international magazine Sardiyat, in addition to establishing the Katara Library of Arabic Novels, the first of its kind in the region.
Katara's General Manager touched on the award's most important achievements, notably the push towards devoting a week to the novel which was achieved in 2021 with the adoption of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This was an initiative made by Katara in 2016 when it adhered to proposals of Arab intellectuals and novelists. Katara celebrated the first edition of the World Novel Week (held each year from October 13 to 20) at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris in October 2022.
Al Sulaiti considered the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel and the World Novel Week to be gifts from the Cultural Village Foundation to the Arab world since its literature and culture need to be introduced to the world. This is by translating the winning novels in each session into English and French with an aim to bring cultures closer.
Director General of the National Library Department Dr. Nidal Al Ayasrah spoke during the symposium about the importance of culture and its concept. He explained that choosing Qatar as the fair's guest of honor is because of the close relations between Jordan and Qatar, which also made Qatar's participation in the fair important to further enhance cultural relations between the two brotherly countries.
Dedicating a symposium for the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel and the stages of its development comes in recognition of the important role that the award has achieved in advancing the Arabic novel to global levels by translating and publishing the winning novels into other languages besides Arabic, which in turn will deepen awareness about Arab heritage and its narrative and cultural challenges, in addition to the award's role in achieving cultural and intellectual diversity in the Arab world, he said.
On his part, the President of the Jordanian Publishers Union and Director of the Amman International Book Fair Jabr Abu Fares pointed out that the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is the biggest catalyst for novel creativity and publishing in the Arab region. He also shared his hopes of new Arab talents being able to find institutions like Katara to support their work.
Three critical papers were presented in the symposium. The first was by Dr. Emad Al Dmour in which he emphasized the role of the Katara Prize for Arabic Fiction in stimulating novelistic creativity in the Arab world, as well as its intellectual pioneering role. He stressed that the award has a high level of professionalism that made its value for Arab writers a moral one rather than just a financial one.
Jordanian journalist Omar Kallab discussed in his paper the impact of awards on the spread of the Arabic novel. He noted that the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel created a cultural movement in the Arab region in the field of novels and criticism, contributed to highlighting Jordanian talents and introducing them to the Arab reader, and opened the door for novelists to seize the publishing and translation opportunities which created an unprecedented cultural movement in the Arab region.
Writer and literature professor at the University of Jordan Dr. Sanaa Shalan compared in her paper between the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel and other similar awards in the Arab region, where she found that the Katara award to be the superior one, as it presented a professional model and changed the standards and criteria that influenced the Arabic novel generally. She said that winning the award takes the Arab writer to a higher professional level. Shalan also highlighted other initiatives made by Katara such as including the young adult category and creating the audiobook application.
At the conclusion of the symposium, the Jordanian Publishers Union honored Katara, represented by its General Manager Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti. (QNA)