ADU Organizes a Cultural Festival
ADU organized a cultural festival and a book fair. In attendance were a number of renowned authors and novelists from the Western and Arab world such as the Algerian novelist Assia Djebar, the Lebanese novelist Elias Khouri, the Saudi writer Rajaa Alsanea, the Algerian author Yasmina Khadra, the Swedish writer Henning Mankell, and German poet Bas Bottcher.
Dr. Nabil Ibrahim, the ADU Chancellor, commented on the importance of this event, which was organized in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, and the Kitab program. The festival included numerous cultural activities and the authors read parts of their literary works to students in an open seminar which centered around their work.
The ADU Chancellor also noted that the book fair included a heritage village at the main entrance of ADU’s Khalifa City campus as a part of cultural exchange with the guest authors who were introduced to the history, traditions, and rich culture of the UAE. The guests were welcomed by a poem recited in the traditional local style and translated into English, French, and German.
Dr. Ahmed Al Numeri, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, ran the seminar in which the authors spoke about their personal experiences and stressed the importance of literature which they referred to as “the mirror of society” which reflects reality. Literature was also used to serve several goals such as revolution, struggle for just causes, defending the rights of individuals, and other issues that concern society.
Algerian novelist Assia Djebar spoke about the early stages in her writing when she published her first novel at the age of 20. Djebar said that she was inspired by plays and documentary films. She began writing about the situation in Algeria under the French colonization and the rights of women in the Algerian society. Assia noted that the main challenge for her was how to express herself in another culture such as the French culture.
Lebanese novelist Elias Khouri pointed out the most significant points which students and beginners need to pay attention to whilst writing. These points include the importance of addressing an important issue related to a problem in the society, avoid writing about themselves, and reading many novels and stories as he used to do in his childhood. Khouri also called on students to have their own style and path in literature and try not to imitate the writing of other authors.
Saudi writer Rajaa Alsanea spoke about her attempt to defend women rights in Saudi Arabia through her writing in which she tries to reflect the reality of women in the Saudi society, and address issues related to arranged marriages, social stratification, religious divisions, divorce, and the conflicts between modernity and traditions which were exposed in her famous first novel “Girls of Riyadh”, a novel that was translated into 26 languages. Alsanea added that she always loved to write and started writing about her teachers when she was in school.
Algerian author Yasmina Khadra spoke about the secret behind choosing a feminine pen name for his works by saying that he is proud of it since he holds a lot of respect and appreciation for women, adding that anonymity was the only way for him to survive and avoid censorship during the Algerian civil war.
The famous Swedish writer Henning Mankell, whose works are on bestsellers lists all over Europe, spoke about the vital role which literature plays in terms of spreading awareness about different issues in the world, adding that many successful novels are converted into movies and plays in order to spread the benefit of the meaning it carries, not only through readable words, but also through acting and speech. Mankell noted the importance of the translation process in terms of transferring the different literatures from one culture to another, which allows for the opportunity to all people, around the world, to get in touch with the cultures of others and to understand the nature of their society.
German poet Bas Bottcher mentioned that most Germans today are not interested in reading German poetry, therefore he tried to come up with a way to deliver poems through the stage where poems are being recited in an atmosphere where the audience can interact with the content. Bottcher also spoke about his invention of the Textbox which is considered as a unique experience to listen to poetry through a performance stage, adding that it has been attracting a large number of audiences from Germany and Europe. Bottcher also emphasized the importance of utilizing modern technologies in literature.
At the end of seminar, ADU conveyed its appreciation of the guest authors as well as its student authors by presenting the students with vouchers in order to motivate them to buy books that were available at the book fair, amongst which were a number of ADU’s faculty members’ and students’ works written in both Arabic and English.
