Nadwa 2009

The inaugural IPAF nadwa took place in November 2009 at Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Eight critically-acclaimed writers from Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen participated in a nine day workshop coordinated by IPAF trustee and cultural consultant Dr Peter Clark. Iraqi writer Inaam Kachachi and Lebanese writer Jabbour Douaihy, two experienced authors who have previously been shortlisted for the IPAF, acted as mentors during the workshop, engaging with the writers in daily one-to-one sessions. Throughout the process, both mentors and Peter Clark worked with participants to shape their work and, each evening, the writers shared their writing with the rest of the group.

The workshop resulted in eight new pieces of fiction, five by authors who had recently been selected for the Beirut39. The collection, Emerging Arab Voices: Nadwa I, will be published in the UK by Saqi Books in a bilingual volume in January 2011, comprises a range of styles and themes: social realism from Egypt, a tale from the deserts of Darfur, a grim farcical allegory from Tunisia, family drama from Saudi Arabia, a story that explores home and exile against the backdrop of Sana’a. You can read an extract from Emerging Arab Voices: Nadwa I here.

Nadwa 2009 participants:
Lana Abdel Rahman, Egypt
Mansour El Souwaim, Sudan
Mansoura Ez Eldin, Egypt
Mohammed Hasan Alwan, Saudi Arabia
Nadia Alkokabani, Yemen
Kamel Riahi, Tunisia
Mohamed Salah El Azab, Egypt
Nasser al-Dhaheri, UAE

Mentors:
Jabbour Douaihy, Lebanon
Inaam Kachachi, Iraq

Coordinator:
Dr Peter Clark, UK