In cooperation with the Emirates Writers Union, the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation is organizing “Generations Connect: A Symposium on Short Stories in the UAE”. The event will take place at 7pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 21 &22, 2021, and will be held at the Ahmed Rashid Thani Hall, located at the premises of the Emirates Writers Union in Qasba, Sharjah.
The symposium will feature a constellation of veteran short story writers, as well as short story writers from the middle and younger generations. Moreover, it will see the participation of a number of prominent critics who have written about various generations of short story writers in the UAE.
The event aims at reviving a classic genre of literature, which was brought back to the forefront of public attention thanks to various literary projects, programs and activities in the UAE, including the “Story of the Week” project, which was launched by Al Bayan newspaper in the late 1990s, the “Short Story Club”, hosted by the Emirates Writers Union, and Dubai International Writing Program, which was launched by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation, among many other activities and programs that put the short story genre back into the limelight.
The symposium will include testimonials by Abdullah Saqr, Abdul Hamid Ahmed, Abdul Reda Al Sajwani, Nasser Al Thaheri, Asmaa Al Zarouni, Ali Al Humairi, Mohsen Sulaiman and Abdul Fattah Sabri.
The symposium will also feature critical researches by critic Ezzat Omar, Dr. Badie’a Al Hashemi, Dr. Al Rasheed Abu Shoueir and Dr. Saleh Howeidi. Moreover, several young authors will read excerpts from their short stories, including Saleha Obaid Hassan, Mariam Abdullah, Amal Al Kaabi, Fatima Al Ameri, Aesha Al Jaberi and Mohammed Youssef Zeinel. These excerpts will be part of a discussion by the participating critics and the audience.
The sessions of the symposium will be moderated by novelist Reem Al Kamali, poet Ibrahim Al Hashemi, short story writer Basima Younes, and critic Islam Abu Shukeir.
In addition, sessions of the first day of the symposium will include a book-signing event for Mariam Jumaa Faraj: Qissat Ghafa Emaratiyya (Mariam Jumaa Faraj :The Story of an Emirati Ghafa Tree), a book by Mu’ayad Al Shaybani, which is part of the “Figures from the UAE” book series, released by the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation.
The second day of the symposium will also include another book signing event by author Abdullah Saqr, who will sign copies of his new book Qita’ Muthlima Min Al Layl (Dark Pieces of the Night), published by Dar Unwan Publishing and Distribution. The book is the most recent publication by the veteran short story writer, which comes four decades after his first short story collection Khashaba (A Piece of Wood).
