JEDDAH, 27 March 2006 — Yesterday members of the Shoura Council in Riyadh discussed for the second time this year the ways and means of forming the first writers league in the Kingdom. Shoura Council member Abdullah Al-Fifi, who is also a member of the Council’s Youth and Culture Committee, assured Arab News that a Saudi writers league is now very close to reality.
Over the past two years, many Saudi writers and university professors have asked for a league as a way of connecting them with one other and as a way to improve awareness of culture and cultural matters. A group of the intellectuals have written letters and petitions to the Shoura Council advocating the formation of a writers league.
The subject was first raised in the Shoura Council a year ago, discussed in a few sessions and then dropped from the agenda. One of the reasons for this, according to Deputy Minister of Culture Abdul Aziz Al-Subayel, is that the league is not a matter for a single person to decide. He explained that a decision required action from several departments before it was finally approved. The deputy minister refused to blame bureaucracy and said that such things naturally take time and that the same was true in Western countries. Al-Subayel met Shoura Council members last month at their request in order to discuss the matter.
Interestingly, the league being discussed will include writers above the age of 18, but many writers objected to that and asked that the league accept as members “recognized and established writers.”
“The council will continue discussions about forming the league as they are in the final stages. After that, the recommendation will be submitted to the Council of Ministers,” explained Al-Fifi.
He added that it was not clear if the league would be independent or linked to the government. Many have asked that the league be a private organization as part of the Kingdom’s reforms and the granting of more freedom for civil organizations to emerge. Others, however, felt that the league should be governmental since its financial and legal support would come from the government.
Novelist Mahmoud Tarawri said that regardless of the regulations, writers must first discuss and settle on a mechanism for how the league would function. “The very existence of a league will be a clear demonstration of our society’s enlightenment and progress,” said Tarawri.
“Having a writers league is a must in order to develop the writers themselves and to regulate their relations with other civil society organizations,” said literary critic and the newly appointed president of the Riyadh Literary Club, professor Saad Al-Bazea.
Al-Bazea wondered about the future relationship between the league and the existing literary clubs in the Kingdom. He said that the clubs were now reforming and wanted to attract writers to engage in these activities. “If the writers league is going to do the same thing, then I’m afraid there might be some kind of clash between the two organizations.”
Al-Bazea hopes that there will be a clear system that activates both the league and the clubs for the benefit of all writers.
The final word on when exactly the league will become a reality, or at least when the Shoura Council will submit its recommendation to the Council of Ministers, is still unconfirmed. The members say it will be “soon” but, unfortunately, that word is very indefinite.
