JEDDAH, 24 June 2007 — Aiming to bridge the literary gap between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, a group of British Council project managers has been in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah with the aim of meeting Saudi writers and thinkers.
Their most recent destination was Jeddah where they met a number of well-known writers — novelist Abdu Khal and poet Mohammed Al-Thobaiti as well as other writers such as Eid Al-Khamisi, Abdullah Thabit, Awad Shaher and critic Hamed ibn Aqeel. Bloggers such as Majed Al-Thobaiti were also included.
The British Council said the visit was an introduction to what will become a long-term relationship based on a shared love for art and literature. In addition to its usual activity of teaching English, the Council is expanding into other fields such as science programs, vocational training, higher education and arts.
The new Western Province British Council director, Reem Shafiq, the first woman to hold the post, explained, “There is a new structure for British Council work in Saudi Arabia.”
The first program has to do with arts and women. According to Shafiq, the art program will cover literature, the performing arts, the visual arts, design and architecture and will seek to “develop closer ties between the people and the institutions of the Kingdom and UK, to build mutual relationships which are sustainable and which will break down barriers between people by sharing ideas and creativity in achievement.”
Susanne Joinson, manager of the literature project in the British Council who recently came to Saudi Arabia from Yemen, is pursuing the same goal as translator and consultant Peter Clark.
They agree that the Council lacks experience with the Kingdom’s literary movements while, on the other hand, it is very involved in such endeavors in Egypt and some other Arab countries. The project will be ongoing for three years.
Joinson said the trip around the country was set up to meet as many writers, publishers, translators and people involved in literature in order to gain an understanding of how the British Council in London can make links with partners here in order to exchange ideas.
“We in the UK have limited access to Saudi Arabia’s media and it is crucial to be in touch with Saudi writers who are writing about contemporary life here.”
One interesting plan is to use the present experience to invite Saudi writers to the London Book Fair in April 2008 at which writers from the Arab world will be the guest of honor.
Peter Clark who has translated some Saudi writers into English for the UK’s Banipal literary magazine was happy to meet two local writers whose work he had translated — Abdu Khal and Abdullah Al-Taezi.
He also met Mohammed Al-Thobaiti, a leading Arabic poet. Clark said he would like to see the British Council get involved in organizing a poetry reading for Al-Thobaiti in London. “There is a richness in Saudi culture that we did not know about though I had had some hints,” he said.
The Saudi writers expressed their opinions and ideas about what would be beneficial to them. Most of them agreed that translating their works was the first step toward a better understanding of Saudi literature.
