SHARJAH: The importance of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) as one of the most influential cultural platforms in the Arab world and its role in promoting cross-cultural communication and dialogue between prominent Arab and international authors was highlighted by renowned novelist Ahmad Al-Rifai.
He said this in the virtually held session, moderated by Iman bin Sheiba, in the ‘Sharjah Reads’ platform on the opening day of the 39th edition of SIBF.
Al-Rifai spoke about his latest novel Homeland of my Life which he said was his most evolved work yet. The novel builds on his experience he gained from working on his three previous novels, Tired from Yearning, Your Eyes Are My Last Hope, and They Revealed the Love Secret.
Al-Rifai is a Kuwaiti novelist who started writing in 1985. He spoke in the session about his experience writing radio plays like With Mama Anisa, which was later adapted for television. His upcoming work for television is a series titled Princess Kahraman and the City of Peace will premiere in 2021 during Ramadan.
Al-Rifai revealed that penning a novel involves a different set of skills which he enjoys exercising. He advises aspiring Arab writers to learn the intricacies of the language through an academic course or by reading quality literature and apply its richness and cultural diversity to connect with readers.
SIBF 2020, organized by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), is held under the theme ‘The World Reads from Sharjah.’ The cultural programme of 64 unique events of the 39th edition of SIBF is being streamed on SBA’s virtual platform over the 11 days of the fair.
