The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation has hosted a literary evening titled, “New Short-Story Voices”, on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The event, which was attended by a wide audience of literature enthusiasts, friends of the Foundation and number of media personalities, featured writers Hessa Abdullah Al Beloushi, Mohammed Youssef Zainel, Sarah Samara, Hala Maher and was moderated by critic Islam Abu Shkeir.
At the beginning of the event, Abu Shkeir said that the participating short-story talents had been trained at the Dubai International Program for Writing and have had their work published by this vital initiative, which aims to cultivate creative taste. Moreover, he thanked the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation for fostering such young literary talents.
Next, short-story writer Hessa Abdullah Al Beloushi read two of her stories “Mahd Qatel” (Lethal Crib) and “Al Muthalath” (The Triangle), while author Mohammed Youssef Zainel read a story titled “Khadar Bashary” (Human Greenness). Following this, writer Sarah Samara read her short story, “Siwar Ummi” (My Mother’s Bracelet) and the reading segment concluded with short-story author Hala Maher who read a story titled, “Al Yawm Allathi tahatma feeh Al Timthal” (The Day When the Statue Broke).
The featured collection of short-stories reflected various social and psychological themes and issues that touch upon human aspects of the characters depicted. Each story displays skillful use of narrative techniques, which underlines the important role of writing workshops and training programs in polishing the skills of budding writing talents and putting them on the road to success.
The readings were followed by an open discussion with the audience, in which members of the audience praised the writing attempts and encouraged the new talents. In addition, HE Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Executive Director of Al Owais Cultural Foundation expressed the keenness of the Foundation to welcome and support young creative talents that help elevate cultural awareness among the youth, and said that the Foundation also provides a platform for these new talents to be present on the cultural arena. Next, Al Hashemi honored the participating authors and presented them with merit certificates, stressing that the Foundation will continue to support promising creative talents from the young generation.
It is worth mentioning that the participating short-story talents had been trained at the Dubai International Program for Writing which has been organized by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation since 2013 and has offered training in various fields of writing and literature to tens of aspiring writers. Most of the writers who have joined this program have had their work published and many have also won prestigious awards.
The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation had also organized a similar literary evening under the title of “Reading Event by Young Authors” on the occasion of the month of reading, in which it celebrated a number of young short-story authors.
The Foundation’s celebration of young writers stems from its strong belief in new creative talents that have found in writing a means of self-expression and of voicing the issues and concerns of society. The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation aims at enforcing such authentic values and encouraging such culture-promoting habits.
