By Umer NangianaProlific, witty, entertaining and often controversial with his writings, Saudi writer Yousef al-Mohaimeed’s prizewinning 2009 novel Where Pigeons Don’t Fly is next up for discussion at the reading session of Qatar Book Club (QBC).A Roger Moger’s translation from Arabic to English of the novel published in Qatar last year by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) has been selected by QBC for its upcoming April session to be held at its new-found permanent home, 7ayak Hub. The members of QBC, a community initiative to promote book sharing and reading, can procure the copy of the novel from the club directly. It is also available from BQFP, all major book stores in Qatar and Amazon. “We have secured 20 copies of the book. All our members or anyone interested in the book or in attending the next session can procure a copy from us,” Iman al-Doubali, the co-founder of the club, told Community.“The idea is to let people read the book prior to the next session of the club where they can discuss the book and share their views,” she added. The next session of the club is taking place on April 29. Al-Mohaimeed, born in Riyadh in 1964, has written many novels and short stories which have been translated into several languages including Russian, Italian, Spanish and German and have been published outside Saudi Arabia. The English version of his 2003 novel Wolves of the Crescent Moon was published by the American University in Cairo (AUC) Press, and by Penguin, in 2007. The translation of his 2004 Munira’s Bottle was published by AUC Press in 2010.Originally written in Arabic in 2009, Pigeons Don’t Fly in Buraida became a bestseller. It won the Abu al-Qasim Ashabbi Prize for the Arabic Novel in 2011.The novel follows the story of Fahd, its protagonist, in a poetic style with a tinge of wit and humour while dealing with serious subjects at the same time. The book discussion will take place at 7ayak Hub. Starting April 1, all QBC meetings, book collections, events and registrations will take place at its 7ayak Hub, according to QBC. The QBC has also planned a workshop with author Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud. “We got in touch with Bloomsbury Publishing and started planning with them a writing workshop with author Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud who came for The Corsair discussion. The date is not confirmed yet, but we are looking at mid-May,” said Iman.As a community initiative, she said, QBC is always open to any collaboration, partnership or project from or for anyone in the community. As part of this commitment, the QBC is thinking of setting up a library in a paediatric hospital.“We would like to give back to the community by organising volunteering activities. The one we have been thinking of for a few months now is setting up a library in the Paediatric Hospital of Rumailah and reading to the children who are hospitalised there,” said the co-founder of the club.She added that the club intends to set up a book corner or a library at the hospital where volunteers on certain days would go and read books to the children undergoing treatment. The club has invited participating for volunteering from anyone interested.The club also actively encourages people to write for them. They say they look forward to receiving and reading contributions and featuring them in their Contributions’ page.Anyone interested in getting the copy of Where Pigeons Don’t Fly can contact QBC by phone (3366-9755) to arrange for the collection at 7ayak Hub. The copies are being handed out on first-come, first-served basis.