Opening its 2017 programme on a highly encouraging note for the community, Qatar National Library (QNL) will be collaborating with Goethe-Institut Gulf Region and Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press, to invite Qatari children’s book authors to participate in ‘Books - Made in Qatar’ workshop.
Slated to be held from January 29 to February 2 – from 9am to 3pm – at the Fire Station Artist in Residence (Old Civil Defence Building), the workshop aims to foster the development of Qatari authors in the field of children’s literature.
To be conducted by Ute Krause, one of Germany’s best-known children and young adults’ book authors, the workshop will give participants “the opportunity to work with Krause on their story lines and book projects, discuss problems and challenges of writing for children, and exchange ideas in a friendly and supportive environment”.
In a subsequent workshop, QNL says, Qatari illustrators will be invited to illustrate the texts which were created in the writers’ workshop. Selected children’s books created in the workshop will then be considered for publication through Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press.
Hind A al-Khulaifi, Head of Children’s Services at QNL, told Community, “Qatar is home to many aspiring local authors and we want to be able to give these writers a platform, encourage them, and give them the support they need. We are thrilled at the submissions we have received and the quality of the work. We are eager to receive more.”
In its note on the workshop, QNL, a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), says, “If you are a Qatari aspiring writer of children’s books working on a storyline that you would like to discuss in the workshop, please send an e-mail with some information about yourself as well as a short synopsis of your work – not longer than one or two A4 pages, in English or Arabic – latest by January 9 to Ebrahim Ahmad al-Bishri at [email protected] or call 4454-1879.” The selected participants will be contacted via e-mail.
This workshop is among a long series of workshops and training sessions offered by QNL this month, which are designed to provide an educational and creative platform for students and the wider community.
Kicking off 2017 with a free, hands-on training workshop on designing effective presentations, in which participants will be taught “how to create effective presentations using design elements and processes on PowerPoint and Prezi,” to QNL’s free training on ‘Emergency Preparedness for People with Special Needs’, which “aims to provide information on how to properly reach people with disabilities during emergencies in public places” and is directed at teachers, parents and caregivers, the QNL timetable looks both busy and empowering.
Apart from the book discussion of British author Neil Gaiman’s novel poignant fairy tale The Ocean at the End of the Lane at Al-Khor Hall, Education City Clubhouse, on January 11, from 6 pm to 7:30pm, QNL will be offering a free workshop ‘Widening Audience Engagement with Digital Content’, in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, which will provide participants with critical perspectives on the choice and adoption of digital media and technologies to enrich audience engagement.
QNL is also set to continue with its monthly workshop on research skills. The January session focuses on the essential research skills which apply to a wide range of disciplines and subject areas. It will cover four modules: Research Tool Kit, Search Strategies & Techniques, Citing Resources and Writing Research Papers.
As for the monthly online resources training session, 2017 begins with the subject of engineering and technology. “The session will offer training on selected online resources that contain scientific journal articles, eBooks and reviews in various areas of engineering and technology. These resources include ASTM Compass, ASME Digital Collection and IEEE Xplore Digital Library,” says QNL.
And as for those of us who’d like to explore more than the children in us, for the second time, QNL will host a special arts event for adults titled ‘Colouring for Adults’. Exploring the popular new trend of colouring for adults, the new hobby, which has taken the world by storm, is likened to meditation as it helps to reduce anxiety and increase focus, QNL points out.
Ute Krause
