The activities of the 11th edition of the Katara Arabic Novel Festival have continued for the sixth consecutive day.A discussion session on “The Novel Through Dark Lenses” was held Saturday, featuring writer Kholoud Hamad, the vice-chairperson of the Qatar Cultural Centre for the Blind, and moderated by Mohamed al-Shahwani, head of Katara’s Cultural Literature Department.The speaker stressed that “The Novel Through Dark Lenses” is not about the loss of sight but rather about another form of vision, since writing itself is the light that never goes out.Hamad discussed several key themes, beginning with an introduction to the world of the novel and the reasons we write it.She explained the differences between the novel, the short story, and the vignette, which lie in aspects such as length, time span, the number of characters, plot, language, and ending.Hamad then addressed the difference between the writing of a blind person and that of a sighted person, clarifying that it stems from a difference in perception rather than ability.She described how a blind writer reconstructs space using other senses such as sound, touch, smell, and time, in addition to the technological tools used for writing, including screen readers, Braille, and voice dictation.Hamad also explored how the absence of visual imagery affects language formation and narrative rhythm.She highlighted several Arab blind novelists and their experiences, including Khalil Mohamed Ibrahim from Iraq, author of The Beggars’ State (2014); Abdulhamid Younes from Egypt, known for his works in folklore and popular narrative; and Taha Hussein, the Egyptian pioneer whose novels The Days and The Call of the Curlew are regarded as foundational historical models.Hamad concluded that creativity does not require two eyes but rather a linguistic and human insight.She also spoke about the narrative code of writing “through dark lenses”.On another note, the Workshop on Young Adult Novels and Visual Arts concluded its activities at the Katara Library of Arabic Novels, Building 48.Khalid al-Muhannadi, the director of the Katara Library of Arabic Novels, distributed certificates of appreciation to the participants.The two-day workshop was led by trainer Ilham Mujahid al-Amri.Meanwhile, a puppet theatre performance titled The Novel in Puppet Theatre was held over two days in Hall 12.The performance was an adaptation of The Handkerchief Seller, the novel that won the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel in the Young Adult Fiction category, written by Egyptian novelist Ahmed Tosson.The script and dialogue were written by artist Qais al-Kanzari, with Fatima al-Shurooqi handling editing and musical recording.The play tells the story of a boy who leaves school and runs away from home to work in Cairo.Along the way, he meets a kind man who convinces him to return to his sick father and reminds him that his future lies in education.A seminar on “Heritage Narratives in the Arabic Novel” was held yesterday, featuring speakers Dr Youssef al-Idrisi, academic and critic, and Dr Ali Fathallah, academic and researcher.The session was moderated by journalist and novelist Mohamed Daho, who opened the discussion by emphasising that the Arabic novel, in all its forms and evolutions, has drawn from many sources that give Arabic storytelling its unique flavour, foremost among them being heritage.