RIYADH, 19 September 2005 — The British Council in Saudi Arabia has launched a creative writing competition targeting women in the Kingdom.
Karen Daly-Gherabi, the assistant director of the British Council in the Kingdom, said the contest was part of the international creative writing project first launched in Pakistan by the council in 2003 under the Connecting Futures initiative.
“The project has moved from country to country over the last three years. In 2003-04 it began in Pakistan and moved to Malaysia and on to Egypt and then France. In 2005-06 it will take place in Saudi Arabia and will move later to the United Kingdom,” she added.
According to her, the project aims at promoting mutual understanding between young people across different cultures in both UK and the participant countries at this time of global confusion and misconception.
The rules of the competition limit entrants to young women of Saudi nationality aged between 17 and 25 years. Each contestant is required to write short story (750 to 1,000 words long) either in English or in Arabic on the theme “I belong.” Entries should be submitted to the British Council offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam by Sept. 28.
“Belonging refers here to belonging to a family, a community, an ethnicity or a country,” Daly-Gherabi explained.
Up to 15 writers will be selected from the first round and will be invited to attend a five-day creative writing workshop in Riyadh in December led by a celebrated British female writer. The workshop will guide participants in the development of an international, online story chain to be created in collaboration with writers from Malaysia, Egypt, France and Northern Ireland.
