JEDDAH, 9 May 2007 — Members and officials of the Hewar Group yesterday celebrated the publication of the group’s first book, Studies on Saudi Novels Written by Women.
The book includes studies of novels written by Saudi women writers that were discussed during the group’s first season. The studies, which were presented by members of the group during 2003 and 2004, include 15 novels that were published from the early 1960s to 2003. The main focus of the studies was not to discuss writers’ literary techniques but rather to interpret the works’ social connotations.
It took Saudi women writers 33 years to publish their first novel after their male counterparts. The first Saudi novel written by a woman was by Samira Khashoggi, which was published in the early 1960s. This came 33 years after the publication of “The Twins” by Abdul Qodous Al-Ansari.
The 694-page book documents the studies and analyses of the 15 chosen novels by both men and women members of the group as well as comments from members of the audience.
The total number of Saudi novels published hit a record high last year with the publication of 41 novels, a number that seems minute compared to Western countries but highly unusual for Saudi Arabia, which has only published 400 novels since the 1930s. Out of the 41 novels, 20 were written by women.
The Hewar Group was founded four years ago with the aim of connecting literature to issues in Saudi society.
