Although the writing scene in the UAE began decades ago (including the forming of Emirates Writers Union), the scene still lacked a central hub for writers, whether they be new writers looking to publish, or established authors looking for more inspiration. There was nowhere to meet and connect, somewhere offering all kinds of workshops, events, talks, and book signings. Perhaps the lack of such a place made us believe that this was the norm, and that working in silos was the only way. That is, up until a year ago in November 2014, when all that changed with the opening of the Dubai International Writers Center (DIWC).
Set up by the Emirates Literature Foundation, the same foundation that runs the annual Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature, the Writers Center “is the first all-inclusive celebration of the written word in all its forms – writing; fiction and non-fiction; poetry; script-writing; play writing; calligraphy – with a year-round programme of events catering to the multicultural and multinational communities living in the region.”[*]
Some of the events that DIWC has hosted since its inception include creativity camps for children, writing memoirs workshop, a celebration of Khalil Gibran, how to blog workshop, and the arts and craft of storytelling. That’s not counting the book signing events, poetry nights, and many more events that are relevant to the written word in a way or another. With all those events being held in only a year, I believe we can be assured with a promise towards a very bright future for writing and reading in the country.
In honor of their first year anniversary, the DIWC will be hosting a celebration on Saturday, 31st of October, 2015, at 8 PM. The celebration aims to bring together all the authors that have contributed to the literature scene in 2015, and open the door for all book lovers to meet their favorite authors, talk to them directly in a very welcoming and open format, learn from their experiences, and get their copies signed.
Join us as we celebrate DIWC and the literary scene in the country.
It's great blog.
Literature is the art of knowing everything about any language. There are so many languages which are used by different people of different countries so that they can understand each other easily.