In celebration of World Novel Week, and on the occasion of the classification of Katara Cultural Village as “City of Arab Novel”, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization organized, on November 17, 2023, a ceremony under the auspices of Director-General, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar. The ceremony was attended by Dr. Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara Cultural Village Foundation, along with representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Tunisia and a number of writers, intellectuals and media professionals.
In his remarks on this occasion, the Director-General of ALECSO, indicated that the Organization is keen to strengthen its role in providing care and attention for Arab intellectuals and artists in all areas of creativity, supporting Arab literary and intellectual works, and enhancing the status of the Arabic language, being among the goals for which ALECSO was created.
Following the opening statements, the Director-General of ALECSO handed the Director-General of the Katara Foundation the certificate for the classification of Katara as “City of Arabic Novel”, along with the “ALECSO Shield”.
“World Novel Week” was proclaimed at the 41st session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2021 and takes place every year during the week of 13 October. It aims to encourage the appreciation of literature as an expression of human creativity, promote reading, and raise awareness of the important role of writers as key contributors to knowledge sharing and cultural diversity, in line with the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist. For novelists, poets, screenwriters, playwrights, literary critics, publishers and many others, World Novel Week champions their contributions to interculturality, supports their rights and strengthens book industries around the world.
