Korea-Arab Society to host forum on Arab literature next week

By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- The government-funded Korea-Arab Society will host the first annual forum on Arab literature next week, featuring two prominent female writers from the Middle East region, officials said Friday.

The Korean-Arab Literary Forum is to be held next Tuesday at Seoul's Hankuk
University of Foreign Studies, exploring innovative avenues for enhancing
bilateral cultural dialogue by reinforcing literary ties.
"South Korean people tend to stress the economic importance of the Arab countries
but neglect the rich cultural heritage they have," said Choi Seung-hoh, former
South Korean ambassador to Egypt. Choi is secretary-general of the Korea-Arab
Society launched in May to promote political, economical and cultural exchanges
between the two sides.
"We would like to take this opportunity to introduce the Arab literature to a
wider public and reinforce culture and knowledge exchange between the Arab region
and South Korea," he said.
The forum this year will invite two female contemporary writers -- Salwa Bakr
from Egypt and Khireyah Al-Sagaf from Saudi Arabia.
Born in 1949 to a lower middle class family in Egypt, Bakr has become one of the
most respected novelists in Egypt and short story writers across the Arab
countries.
Her satirical novel "The Golden Chariot," which earned international attention,
will also be published in Korean next Monday.
Prodigy-turned-journalist Al-Sagaf, well known for starting to write when she was
only nine, became the first female editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper in Saudi
Arabia in 1980.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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