The Festival will also see the awarding of Katara Prize for Arabic Novels 2018 winners and a book signing ceremony by winners of the 2017 awards.
Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti said the Katara Library for Arabic Novels will showcase more than 10,000 titles in fiction, in addition to studies and critical works on Arabic novels. The opening ceremony will take place on the first day of the festival.
He added that the Library will serve as a major resource and meeting point for writers, researchers, and men of letters.
The Library will have special sections for reading and reference and for screening of films and serials based on fiction, as well as audio programmes. There will also be dedicated sections for lectures, seminars and workshops, and a studio for recording interviews and interactive sessions.
Khalid al-Sayed, head of the Katara Prize for Arabic Novels, said the Library will become a platform for a wide range of activities such as expert workshops, seminars and lectures on Arabic fiction and related topics. The Library will also function as a readers’ club, bringing together distinguished readers, writers and intellectuals who will meet every month for open discussions on diverse literary topics, especially those related to novels, he added.
Al-Sayed noted that the Library will include an electronic archive with two sections, one for Arabic novels and the other for Arab novelists. The archive will provide a comprehensive source of information on Arabic novels and novelists which will be made easily accessible.
The Katara Festival of Arabic Novels will witness signing of a number of new books by their authors, which will be released as part of the Katara Prize for Arabic Novels 2018.
Winners of the 2017 Prize will sign their winning entries in various categories, including novels and critical studies as well as translated works.
A total of 27 new titles will be released during the Festival that will immensely contribute to Arabic fiction and literature, said Dr al-Sulaiti. These books being published by the Katara Publishing House will be an added attraction to the Katara Library for Arabic Novels.
Besides their original works in Arabic, the participating novelists will also sign the translations of their prize winning novels in English and French.
The translated novels include Forty Years Waiting for Isabelle by Said Khatibi, Khatun Baghdadi by Shakir Noori, Groundnuts by Samiha Khrais, Different Death by Mohamed Berrade and Certainty Effect by Hosheng Ossi. Several award-winning critical studies on novels in Arabic will also be released on the occasion.