Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) organised a seminar titled ‘Contemporary Challenges to Culture and Intellectuals Worldwide’, in Biblioteca Nacional de España – Spain’s largest public library – on Friday, as part of Sharjah’s participation at in LIBER International Book Fair-Madrid 2019 as its guest of honour.

The session brought together writers Fathia Al Nemer and Nadia El Najjar together with Spanish author and publisher Manuel Pimentel. Moderated by Saleha Obeid, the talk highlighted common challenges faced by authors, poets and publishers in both UAE and Spain.

Highlighting the importance of time in a writer’s life, Fathia Al Nemer said: “I started writing several years ago, and before deciding to devote myself completely to it, I was able to balance my time between writing and other things quite well. Eventually, I realised I was writing at the expense of many routine life commitments. Since taking up writing professionally, I have learnt that a good writer is one who manages their time effectively.”

Shifting her focus to the reality of publishing in the UAE and larger Arab region, Al Nemer said many authors have stopped writing, as is clearly seen in the ‘one novel in a lifetime’ phenomenon. She explained the reason for this, many a times, is due to the unsuccessful experience in publishing their first work. This often results from the writer taking on the entire mission, and completely thrown off by the complicated processes involved, they decide to quit considering their first work a failure.

She noted that insufficient literary agents and editors in the in the Arab publishing market is a major challenge for authors, especially with many publishing houses resorting to unvetted committees to evaluate and approve manuscripts for publication.

Pimentel underlined that every writer has a poet’s soul, while the publisher possesses a trader’s soul. This is why writers, who are interested in publishing must overcome such a challenge by learning how to truly appreciate the work of other writers as they do in their own case.

Referring to a major challenge facing contemporary writers in different countries worldwide, Manuel Pimentel stressed that literary awards, despite their recognition of the author’s value, have prompted many authors to write only to win awards. This has led them to unnecessarily politicise their works and compromise the authentic expression and uniqueness they bring to their work. He pointed out that winning awards is important in any author’s pursuit of a successful writing career, but more important is quality, which becomes every author’s lasting legacy.

Talking about her personal experience of being published in the genre of children’s literature, Nadia Al Najjar said: “I started writing for children after my little boy asked me to, and realised after my first work was published, how beautiful it is to write for young readers. Despite the challenge of undergoing a paradigm shift in both style and technique – writing for adults to now writing for children, it has been the most special experience.”

On challenges facing writers when they want to get their first book published, Al Najjar said: “In the past 10 years, UAE has witnessed a significant growth in the number of quality publishing houses who function and deal with authors like top publishers anywhere in the world would do. I believe the Emirati writer’s challenge having to deal with publishers from outside their country no longer exists.”