At a ceremony held in the Tunisian capital Friday, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (Alecso) honoured Katara - Culture Village as a City of the Arab Novel.
Katara general manager Pro Dr Khaled bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, Alecso director general Dr Mohamed Ould Amar, second secretary at Qatar's embassy in Tunisia Fahd bin Khalifa al-Attiyah and other dignitaries were present, a Katara statement said.
A documentary on Katara was screened and Prof Dr al-Sulaiti received a certificate designating Katara as a City of the Arab Novel, alongside the Alecso shield.
Katara was designated as a City of the Arab Novel by the Permanent Committee for Arab Culture as part of the celebration of the World Novel Week, endorsed by the Unesco during October 13 to 20 each year. This decision was based on the request submitted by Katara in 2016 and endorsed by the Arab ministers of culture.
In his address on this occasion, Prof Dr al-Sulaiti expressed his thanks and appreciation to Alecso. He pointed out that the success achieved by the Katara Award for the Arabic Novel, since its inception in 2014, in establishing the presence of distinguished Arabic novels globally and regionally, was directly supervised by the Alecso, which sponsored all editions of the award.
Prof Dr al-Sulaiti affirmed that Katara would remain an open city for all Arab novelists, with its consistent approach of free, fair, and transparent competition, facilitated by the Katara Award for the Arabic Novel each year. The award selects 14 winners in six categories: Published Novel, Unpublished Novel, Youth Novels, Novel Criticism Studies, Historical Novel, and the Qatari Novel.
He also noted Katara's significant efforts to introduce the world to the authentic Arab literature and culture by publishing the winning novels of each edition, translating them into English and French, and distributing the winning works through the Katara Publishing House at international book fairs.
