AUK Hosts Taleb Al-Refai to Teach Creative Arabic Writing

The Department of Arabic and Foreign Languages at AUK is releasing a new Arabic course in Creative Writing. The new course, which will be offered starting Spring 2014, introduces students to the skills of writing the genre of the short story and novel. The objective of the course is to help students develop critical appreciation of the social role of literature, as well as a comparative knowledge of outstanding examples of short story and novelistic writing from Kuwait, the Arab world, and the world at large.

For the first time, the course will be taught by the distinguished Kuwaiti author Taleb Al-Refai, whose novels and stories are known for their with contemporary analysis of social issues in Kuwait and the Gulf region, such as the situation of foreign laborers ("Shadow of the Sun," 1998), the independence of the writer and the necessity for artistic freedom ("The Garment," 2009), the rise of consumerism ("Minor Thefts," 2010), and the situation of women ("Kawthar," forthcoming 2014).

'We are very excited to offer this Arabic Creative Writing course to our students. The course will emphasize the process of creative writing. It will start with a review of the main elements of stories and novels, and then lead into a series of workshops, which will give the students the opportunity to write short stories and chapters of novels on their own. After receiving feedback from Mr. Al-Refai, students will be encouraged to seek publication for their writing. This is a unique opportunity for our students to learn about writing Arabic fiction from a master of the craft," said Dr. Raymond Farrin, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Arabic & Foreign Languages at AUK.

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 7th January 2014

Photography by the Office of Public Affairs (C) 2014