Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Director General of the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), opened the Katara Arabic Novel Festival in its tenth session yesterday in Hall 12 in the presence of a number of officials, media figures and a large audience interested in cultural affairs. Dr. Khaled Al-Sulaiti said, in his opening speech, “The Katara Award for Arabic Novel has become a beacon that illuminates the path of creative and talented people in our Arab world, through the implementation of various cultural projects that link the novel with visual art and the novel with drama through narrative theatre, until the award has become par excellence Arab with the support of the Arab Educational Organization.” Culture and Science – ALECSO, and from all Arab countries from the Gulf to the ocean. Stressing that this award has fostered a vibrant literary scene that connects writers, critics, and readers, and displays the power of the Arabic novel to the world. He expressed his pride in the continued and remarkable growth of this award, which is evidence of the burning passion of Arab writers, and their interaction with the issues of their societies, and the concerns of all humanity, to achieve rapprochement between cultures. He called on the audience to celebrate the achievements of Arab creators who, through the successive sessions of the award, are writing a new chapter in the history of Arab literature, which derives its strength and influence from the Arab cultural heritage known for its excellence and genius.
Following the opening speech, the audience listened to “The Novel Symphony,” a unique musical experience conceived and supervised by Dr. Nasser Suhaim. The result of a pioneering cooperation between the Cultural Village Foundation – Katara and the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, the audience enjoyed the innovative blend between the magic of orchestral music and the exciting narrative in the novel, which is a testimony to the power of harmony and the unlimited possibilities of the components of art.
For his part, Mr. Khaled Al-Sayed, General Supervisor of the Katara Award for Arabic Novel, said in a statement to Al-Arab, “This year’s festival celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Katara Award for Arabic Novel as an integrated festival and an interdependent cultural project with the accreditation of World Novel Week by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). », The celebration was approved to be held from October 13 to 20 of each year, indicating that the award is in continuous development, as the number of its entries in the first session in 2014 reached about 700 entries, and today in its tenth edition it has reached 1,800 entries in a total of 6 main categories, the last of which was the addition The Historical Novel category was preceded by the Qatari Novel, Boys’ Novel, and Critical Studies category.
He said, “The number of entries so far has been 15,200 since the launch of the award, and Katara has also issued more than 250 editions of winning novels and works translated into English and French for 169 winners so far.
The general supervisor of the Katara Award for Arabic Novel added: We sought to link the novel with other arts, such as visual art and narrative theatre, noting that this year’s festival, which also celebrates the Moroccan novel within the framework of the Qatar-Morocco Year of Culture 2024, and therefore the focus was on Moroccan creativity and the late writer Thami Al-Wazzani was chosen as the character for this. The festival includes a rich cultural program.