Frankfurt Book Fair welcomes Yemeni writers [Archives:2004/775/Last Page]

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September 23 2004
(L-R) Mr. Selle, Huda al-Attas, Dr. Abdu Ali, Ibtisam al-Mutwakil and Frank M. Mann
(L-R) Mr. Selle, Huda al-Attas, Dr. Abdu Ali, Ibtisam al-Mutwakil and Frank M. Mann
By Rami al-Absi
Yemen Times Staff

A preparatory meeting between the German ambassador to Yemen, Frank M. Mann, the Second Secretary, Hendrik Selle and the Yemeni participants in the Frankfurt Book Fair was held at the headquarter of the German embassy on Monday September 20th 2004.
The meeting was followed by a short press conference, which allowed the introduction to the media of the seven Yemeni writers selected by the German Academy for Language and Poetry (GALP) to attend the biggest book fair in the world, the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The meeting was attended by Dr Abdu Ali Othman, Huda al-Attas, Ibtisam al-Mutwakil, and Mohammed al-Sharafi who reported Dr. al-Maqaleh's apology.
The conference released that the seven Yemeni poets, artists, and critics are Huda al-Attas, Ahmed al-Awadhi, Hashem Ali, Ibtisam al-Mutwakil, Mohammed Haitham, Dr. Ahmed Qayd al-Sa'eedi, and Dr. Abdu Ali Othman. They were chosen by GALP to participate in the Book Fair, during October 6th – 10th 2004, which will contain seminars, presentations, and discussions about Yemeni culture and different topics to promote dialogue among civilizations.
Answering a question raised by the Yemen Times on the criteria adopted to select candidates, Mr Hendrik Selle said: “the Academy that selected them is quite knowledgeable of Arab writers. And the selection was a result of hot discussions in consultation with Dr. al-Maqaleh.”
“Their attendance will not be the first Yemeni presence, there were two writers mediums, in 2002 and 2004. Yemeni and German writers are well known to each other,” the ambassador added.
Many questions were asked to the Yemeni candidates and the German ambassador who replied in a very friendly manner depicting the strong Yemeni-German ties and cultural cooperation.
“The Arab world is the honored guest of Frankfurt Book Fair this year. There will be delegations from all the countries of the Arab League. There will be also an official delegation, besides the writers' delegation, which will be headed by Khaled al-Rowaishan, the Minister of Culture,” the Second Secretary said.
The writers' journey is going to start on October 5th and they'll return on October 12th.
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