This October, Qatar National Library is gearing up to celebrate arts and literature with a lineup of events focused on creative writing and design. The Qatar-Indonesia Year of Culture 2023 will be among the highlights of this month’s activities with a series of challenges, workshops and exhibitions designed to celebrate the cultural values that bind Indonesia and the Arab world.
The events will kick off on 1 October with the Book Cover Challenge as part of the Year of Culture activities, followed by a workshop on 2 October on how to express ideas through graphic design.
The ‘Let’s Speak Arabic series’ returns on 8 October with a workshop organized in collaboration with the Tamouh initiative to teach the basics of the Arabic language to non-native speakers.
On 10 October, the focus will turn to the well-being of youth and mothers during an expert-led session as part of the ‘Mommy to Be’ series.
On 12 October, the Library’s Philharmonic will take the audience on a musical journey with Dana Alfardan and MAias Alyamani.
QNL celebrates World Mental Health Day on 14 October with a learning event to support positive behaviors in children and adolescents in the first session, and the wellbeing of adults who often juggle working life and family life, in the second session. On the same day, an interactive workshop will be held to explore the essential rules when writing a research paper.
On 21 October, the Library will host a transformative workshop in collaboration with Just Media Foundation and Mazameen Foundation to equip students, aspiring journalists, content creators, and professionals, with tools that foster critical thinking and an informed public discourse on the topic of climate change.
Media discourse in the 21st century will be the focus of another thought-provoking session in the evening with high profile speakers from the Mazameen Foundation and Just Media Foundation discussing the evolving media landscape, its impact on society, and the challenges it presents.
Writing will again feature in this month’s agenda with a three-day intensive masterclass on historical non-fiction that kicks off on 22 October. The class will empower amateur and young writers to use the archives of Qatar National Library, Qatar Museums and other international sources to write about the Gulf region. The first day of the workshop will focus extensively on archives and where and what to look for, while the second and third days will examine character development, narrative writing, and publishing principles. Understanding, analysing, and using data effectively to improve decision-making will be the theme of a separate session on data literacy on the same day.
The role of Arabic novels in bridging cultures and fostering multiculturalism will be the focus of the second creative writing workshop for the month on 28 October. The workshop will be followed by a panel discussion.
On 30 October, QNL will organize a webinar to highlight the importance of open repositories in the Middle East and North Africa as libraries worldwide move towards open research. Meanwhile, Qatari artist Ms. Jawaher Al Maadheed will add another dimension to arts during a workshop on how to create physical or tactile surface texture.
On 31 October, Qatar National Library will kick off its latest creative writing challenge – ‘Novel November’ – inviting writers to pen 50,000 words in just one month.
The Library will also commemorate the Qatar-Indonesia Year of Culture with an exhibition on Arabic script in Indonesia. The event will begin on 31 October and will showcase the Library’s collection and those of prestigious Indonesian and local cultural institutions.
All members of the community are encouraged to mark their calendars for these enriching events. For more information on the full program calendar and to register to attend, please visit the Library’s website at www.qnl.qa/en/events or the QNL mobile app, which is free and available to download from the App Store or from Google Play.
