JEDDAH, 2 July 2007 — The Riyadh Literary Club will be hosting this evening at 7 a women-only lecture on blogging, which will be headed by Hadeel Al-Hodhaif, a 24-year-old Saudi writer who maintains “Heaven’s Steps” (http://hdeel.ws/blog), a blog about national issues.
The short-story writer (author of “Their Shadows Don’t Follow Them”) will be presenting an hour-long lecture titled “Write Your Own Blog” which aims to introduce the medium to more Saudi women in order to help influence public policy and opinion.
“I would like to educate the women in the audience about the importance of blogging as an efficient medium that can greatly influence the public opinion,” said Al-Hudhaif.
Her discussion will review the history of blogging and the rise of several prominent Saudi women who have garnered media attention at home and abroad for their blogs. To add more reality to the virtual world discussion, Al-Hudhaif invited a number of young women bloggers to talk about their experiences.
Her aim is mainly to encourage women to make their own blogs and use them to express their opinions openly.
“I wish that women bloggers would step forward in their writing instead of simply writing their personal diaries,” said Al-Hudhaif.
Although Al-Hudhaif is enthusiastic about promoting the medium for women, she expressed cynicism when it came to women’s rights issues in Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t write much about women’s issues unless there is a special case raised in the media,” she said. “I know that whatever I write won’t change anything in terms of improving social conditions for women here.”
The event will take place in Al-Malaz neighborhood under the sponsorship of the recently formed Women’s Committee at the Riyadh Literary Club, one of several government-sponsored literary societies spread out throughout the Kingdom.
