Sharjah International Book Fair 29th Edition

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Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
ExpoCenter 7th - 17th November, 2012. Hours | Saturday - Thursday: 10a.m. - 10p.m.; Friday: 4p.m - 10p.m.

Thursday 3 November 2011

«اتصالات» تعرف الأدب - البيان

«اتصالات» تعرف الأدب

تعقيباً على زاوية (يوميات) للزميل جمال بن حويرب التي حملت عنوان »اتصالات... هل تعرف الأدب« المنشورة في جريدة البيان العدد 11459 بتاريخ 2 نوفمبر 2011 الصفحة 37 جاءنا من شركة اتصالات الرد التالي:

بداية، نود التنويه إلى أن عدم معرفة البعض، في أمور عامة، وحقائق راسخة مدعومة بأدلة لا تقبل الشك أو التأويل أمر لا ينبغي له أن يكون مبررا للطعن في إنجازات شركة وطنية، سخرت إمكانياتها على مدار 35 عاما في دعم المجتمع والاستثمار في شبابه، خاصة إذا ما حملت القضية طابعا شخصيا، وهو قطع الخدمة عن كاتب لم يدفع فاتورته.
وفيما يتعلق بموضوع المقال المذكور أعلاه، فقد طلب الكاتب أن تقوم اتصالات بــ «رعاية المهرجانات الثقافية، دعم الكتاب المقروء والمسموع للشباب، تفعيل الجوائز الأدبية للناشئة، وهو أفضل لها من رعاية كرة القدم فقط».... كما يقول. وفي ذلك نود أن نوضح ما يلي:
أولاً: تقوم «اتصالات» برعاية مختلف الأنشطة والفعاليات الاجتماعية سواء تلك المتعلقة بالأدب والثقافة، الصحة، البيئة، حملات التوعية العامة، المبادرات الحكومية، إلى جانب رعايتها لقطاع الشباب والرياضة، وقد أنفقت ما يربو على مليار و200 مليون درهم خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية.
ثانياً: فيما يتعلق برعاياتها في مجالات الثقافة، والأدب والتربية، على وجه التحديد، فإننا وعلى سبيل المثال والتذكير ـــ نسوق الأمثلة التالية للرعايات التي قمنا بها خلال العام الحالي فقط .
0. جائزة «اتصالات» لكتاب الطفل، وهي الجائزة التي تعد الأكبر على مستوى العالم، حيث تقدم «اتصالات» مليون درهم سنويا لهذه الجائزة التي تهدف إلى الارتقاء بكتب الأطفال من خلال تشجيع الإنتاج الثقافي في مجال أدب الطفولة، بهدف النهوض بأدب الطفل العربي، والعمل على إنشاء قاعدة قوية من الأعمال الأدبية التي تعنى بالطفل وتشجع النشء على القراءة والانفتاح على جميع الثقافات العالمية.
1. أطلقت المؤسسة «صندوق اتصالات للمسؤولية الاجتماعية»: «أيادي» بقيمة 20 مليون درهم سنوياً، وهو مشروع وطني اجتماعي ذو أهداف وتطلعات كبيرة، تقوم أهدافه الإستراتيجية على المساهمة في تحقيق التنمية المستدامة لمجتمع دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة، من خلال تطويع الحلول التقنية لخدمة قطاع التعليم بشكل خاص والقطاعات الأخرى بشكل عام.
2. دعم جائزة الشيخة شمسة بنت سهيل للنساء المبدعات، وهي الجائزة التي تهدف إلى إبراز المكانة التي تحتلها المرأة وتكريم المبدعات الإماراتيات في مجالات «الأدب» إلى جانب العمل التربوي والخدمة الاجتماعية وغيرها.
3. دعم مشروع «المكتبة الإلكترونية»، في كليات التقنية العليا.
4. دعمت اتصالات كتاب «إنما نحن جوقة العميان» للكاتب والإعلامي تركي الدخيل، الذي يجسد حياة المكفوفين ويصف عالمهم، وقد تمت طباعة الكتاب بالإضافة إلى نسخته الورقية بلغة بريل.
5. رعايتها المستمرة لمعرض الشارقة للكتاب.
6. رعايتها لـ«مهرجان التعليم بلا حدود» الذي تنظمه كليات التقنية العليا
7. مهرجان المبدعين الذي يعقد تحت رعاية معالي وزير التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي
8. مسابقة «البحث عن المواهب» التي تنظم بين طلاب المراحل الإعدادية والثانوية .
9. كما تشرفت «اتصالات» برعاية كتاب «أشعار من الصحراء»، لصاحب السمو الشيخ محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم نائب رئيس الدولة رئيس مجلس الوزراء حاكم دبي، رعاه الله.
ثالثا : أما فيما يتعلق بدعم «اتصالات» لقطاع الرياضة، فإننا نؤمن بأن دوري المحترفين هو مشروع وطني، يعكس مكانة الدولة على الخريطة الرياضية العالمية، ويعتبر نقلة نوعية تشمل جميع مكونات الرياضة المحلية، وبالتالي فإن دعم هذا المشروع هو واجب وطني. وأن الإحساس بالمسؤولية، والرغبة في دعم المسيرة الرياضية في هذا البلد المعطاء، هو دافعنا الأساسي لهذه الرعايات منذ البداية. وأن العائد الاستثماري جراء رعاية دوري المحترفين لم يكن تجاريا بقدر ما كان نابعا من إحساس بضرورة دعم وتطوير الرياضة الوطنية .
إننا في «اتصالات» مؤمنون بالدور الرقابي لوسائل الإعلام، كما أننا أيضا منفتحون على الآراء الهادفة ونقبل بكل رحابة صدر أي انتقاد بناء يهدف إلى تطوير خدماتنا وسياستنا في خدمة المجتمع التي تهدف بالنهاية إلى المساهمة في بناء هذا الوطن.. وإننا نأسف أن تتم مصادرة كل تلك الجهود لأسباب شخصية.

إتصالات..هل تعرف الأدب؟ - البيان

إتصالات..هل تعرف الأدب؟

جمال بن حويرب المهيري

كلما فكّرت في مشروع أدبي أو ثقافي بالأحرى، وأهتم به اهتمامي بشرب كأس الشاي الذي أمامي، وأجلس أضع له الخطة، ويذهب خيالي بعيدا حتى يصل إلى يوم افتتاحه وجني الفوائد الكثيرة منه، إلا ويصطدم خيالي بجبل عظيم لا يزول ولا يتزحزح هل تعرفون ما هو؟ إنه التمويل!! ويا له من جبل شاهق لا يصل إلى علوّه فكر، وينكسر النظر عنه خاسئا وهو حسير.

كلّ منْ لاقيتُ يشكو دهرهُ

ليتَ شعري هذهِ الدنيا لمنْ

نعم كل من ألاقيه من أهل الثقافة في بلادي أو من خارجها، عربيها وأجنبيها يشكو نفس الشكوى ويتوجع نفس أوجاعي، عندما يأتي موضوع التمويل وهمومه، وإن كان الأمر يختلف قليلا أو كثيرا من دولة إلى أخرى ومن هيئة إلى منظمة، ولكنها شكوى امتلأت منها النفوس، وسئم من وطئتها المسؤولون، ويقولون متى تُحلّ معضلتكم وتنتجون مثل ما ينتج غيركم؟ متى تصل ثقافتكم إلى مستوى الصناعة المنتجة والأسهم المربحة والزراعة المطعمة؟! إذا لم تستطيعوا أن تكونوا كذلك فانظروا كيف صنع أصحاب هوليوود، حيث جعلوا من الصور الجامدة والروايات التي لا تشترى مركزا عظيما لجني الأموال الطائلة، وسبيلا لرواج الروايات الفاشلة حتى بيع منها ملايين النسخ، أفلا تتعلمون من هؤلاء دروسا تساعدون بها أنفسكم وثقافتكم، وترتقون بها أيها الشعراء والأدباء المفلسون؟

قلت: لو أنّ الأمر بيدي لأمرت الشركات الكبرى في الدول أن تساهم من أرباحها السنوية في دعم الثقافة والآداب، ولجعلتها تساهم في رفع مستوى الشباب الثقافي بتسهيل وصول الكتب لهم بأرخص الأسعار، و برعاية المهرجانات الثقافية وإرسال البعثات للمشاركة في كبرى الملتقيات الأدبية في العالم، ولجعلت من شركات الاتصلات ترسل الأشعار الجميلة والكلمات المفيدة إلى الناس، ولصنعت جوائز لأفضل بيت شعري أو قصيدة أو عمل فكري كما تفعل بعض شركات الاتصلات في بريطانيا خدمة للمجتمع وشهرة لها في آن واحد. ولا أذهب بعيدا، فهذه طيران الإمارات وهي ناقلة من أروع الناقلات الجوية في العالم بشهادة الجميع تسهم بقوة في دعم مهرجان الإمارات للآداب، الذي تشرف عليه السيدة ايزبل بالهول، وهو من أنجح المهرجانات الأدبية في العالم.

»إتصالات« شركة قديمة جدا في هذا البلد الطيب المعطاء، كانت تسمى »إميرتس«، ثم غيرت بأمر من المغفور له الشيخ زايد طيب الله ثراه إلى هذا الاسم الجديد، بهدف تعريبها وتجنبيها الاسم الأجنبي، وقد قامت بجهود كبيرة في تحسين الشبكة الأرضية والهوائية، حتى بلغت أفضل المستويات العالمية مع غلاء في الأسعار غير مقبول، إذا قورنت بأسعارها خارج الدولة، ولكنها تواكب كل جديد في مجال الاتصالات، ولم تستطع شركة »دو« منافستها حتى الآن، لأن الأرض وما حوت من أسلاكٍ هو ملكها وكما قالوا:

أتاني هواها قبلَ أنْ أعرفَ الهوى

فصادفَ قلباً خالياً فتمكّنا

ومع هذه السيادة الكاملة لماذا لا تقوم »إتصالات« برعاية المهرجانات الثقافية؟ وبدعم الكتاب المقروء والمسموع للشباب، وبتفعيل جوائز أدبية للناشئة، وهو أفضل لها من رعاية كرة القدم فقط، وستساهم في تقدم هذا البلد وليس فقط في شفط الدراهم من جيوبنا كل شهر وقطعها، ونحن في أمس الحاجة للاتصال بسبب فاتورة ببضع مئات، كما فعلت معي أثناء مهرجان البابطين الأدبي في الأيام الماضية، حتى ظن المنظمون أني سافرت عنهم وتركتهم!!

Midas PR - Sharjah International Book Fair honours Indian literature

The 30th Sharjah International Book Fair's country of honour is India, home to some of the most exciting and dynamic world writers working today. Sharjah International Book Fair is therefore delighted to welcome eight such writers as special guests.
Vayalar Ravi is a prominent Indian politician, currently the Union Cabinet Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Minister of Civil Aviation. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha. Ravi was the Founder President of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the students' wing of Indian National Congress in Kerala. He was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1982, and he served as Home Minister of Kerala from 1982 to 1986. Ravi was re-elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1987, serving until 1991. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in July 1994 and again in April 2003. He became Union Cabinet Minister for Overseas Affairs on January 30, 2006. A postgraduate and a bachelor of law, Ravi is an
excellent orator, and a prolific writer.
Shobhaa De is a columnist and novelist from Mumbai, India. Shobhaa has founded and edited three magazines and wrote for the Times of India. At present, she is a freelance
writer and columnist for several newspapers and magazines, and also works as a broadcaster and script writer. Shobhaa De is one of India's top best-selling authors: Spouse - The Truth About Marriage examines the urban institution of marriage and sold 20,000 copies on the day of its official launch in Delhi. She is credited with having given birth to "Hinglish," a heady, irreverent mix of Hindi and English. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Italian, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian, Polish and Korean at present. She is listed as one of the ‘50 Most Powerful Women in India" published by the DNA Newspaper, March 2010. Her latest book is titled Shobhaa at Sixty and was published by Hay House in 2010.
M T Vasudevan Nair popularly known as MT, is a renowned Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is one of the most prolific and versatile writers in modern Malayalam literature, and has been awarded the highest literary award in India Jnanpith for his work Randamoozham (Second Turn). His novels, short stories and screenplays speak of the anguish of the Kerala society in the post independence India, and his cinematographic work focus on rural south Indian society. M. T. Vasudevan Nair is considered the principal chronicler of the breakdown of the family system. Nair depicts the correlation between conditions of society and the anxieties and emotional involvements of his characters.
M J Akbar is a leading Indian journalist and author. He is Editorial Director of India Today, India's leading weekly English news magazine, and oversees the English news channel Headlines Today. He is also the founder and former editor-in-chief and managing director of The Sunday Guardian, a weekly newspaper, and The Asian Age, a daily multi-edition Indian newspaper with a global perspective. He has written several non-fiction books, including Byline, a biography of Jawaharlal Nehru titled Nehru: The Making of India, a book on Kashmir titled Kashmir: Behind the Vale, Riot After Riot and India: The Siege Within. He also authored The Shade of Swords, a cohesive history of jihad. Akbar's most
recently published book is Blood Brothers, a family saga covering three generations and exploring changing Hindu-Muslim relations.
Shashi Tharoor is a United Nations peace-keeper, refugee worker, human rights activist, internationally respected orator, a former Minister of State for External Affairs and an elected member of the Indian Parliament. He is also the award-winning author of twelve books, as well as many articles in a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and The Times of India. He has written seven non-fiction books, a collection of literary essays, and an essay collection about contemporary India. His three novels are the classic The Great Indian Novel which is required reading in several courses on post-colonial literature; Riot, an examination of Hindu-Muslim violence in contemporary India, and Show Business which has since been made into a film. He has also authored a collection of short stories.
Ruskin Bond is known as the Indian 'William Wordsworth'. Born to a first generation British migrant, Bond spent most of his childhood amidst the Himalayas. He wrote his first novel named Room On The Roof'when he was 17 years old, winning the prestigious 'John Llewellyn Rhys' Prize. Replete with unassuming humour and quiet wisdom, his stories manifest a deep love for nature and people. He has written over a hundred short stories,
essays, novels, and more than thirty books of children. The Flight of Pigeons has been adapted into the acclaimed Merchant Ivory film Junoon. The Room on the Roof has been adapted in to a TV series. His greatest achievement is that several of his short stories
have been incorporated in the school curriculum all over India. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English writing in 1992. He has also been conferred with Padma Shri, one of the most prestigious civil awards in India.
Jaishree Misra is an Indian author whose debut novel Ancient Promiseswas published and sold worldwide by Penguin UK and became a major bestseller in India. Subsequent books include Accidents Like Love and Marriage, Afterwards and The Little Book of Romance. Jaishree Misra has an MA in English Literature from Kerala University and two
post-graduate diplomas from the University of London, the first in Special Education and the second in Broadcast Journalism. Misra now lives in New Delhi, India. She has taken part in the Jaipur Literature Festival, the Daily Telegraph Hay-on-Wye Festival, the Week Hay Festival in Kerala, the Kovalam Literature Festival, Words on Water in Johannesburg, South Africa and Kitaab. Jaishree Misra is the great-niece of the late Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai,
famous Malayalam writer and Jnanpith awardee.
M Mukundan is one of the pioneers of modernity in Malayalam literature and is known in Kerala as ‘The storyteller of Mayyazhi'. He served as the president of Kerala Sahitya Akademi from October 2006 until March 2010. Mukundan has published 12 novels and ten collections of short stories. Daivathinte Vikrithikal bagged the Kendra Sahithya
Academy award and NV Prize, and has been translated into English and published By Penguin Books India. In 2008, Mukundan's magnum opus Mayyazhi Puzhayude Theerangalil fetched him the award for the best novel published in the last 25 years. Three of his novels were made into feature films in Malayalam. Mukundan's latest novel is Pravasam and tells the story of a Malayali whose journeys carry him around the world. In 1998 the French government conferred on him the title of Chevalier des Arts for his contribution to literature.

Midas PR - Acclaimed authors confirmed for Sharjah International Book Fair

A star-studded line-up of acclaimed authors will be attending the 30th Sharjah International Book Fair from 16-26th November. Confirmed authors range from best-selling novelists and children's writers to world-renowned political commentators and historians, with guests coming from as far away as India and China to attend the Fair.
Amit Chaudhuri is a highly acclaimed academic, author and musician. He grew up in Bombay, before attending University College London, and Balliol College, Oxford. A member of the Royal Society for Literature, Amit is currently Professor of Contemporary Literature at the University of East Anglia. Amit was well placed to judge the Man Booker International Prize 2009, as his novels have won several major awards and received international critical acclaim.
Sally Gardner is an award-winning children's author and illustrator. Sally has severe dyslexia and struggled at school, but found her way to writing after a highly successful career in theatre and costume design. Her latest novel, The Double Shadow, for young adults, is a shifting exploration of memory and identity amidst the growing darkness and destruction of the Second World War. Richly imagined and strikingly original, The Double Shadow ibears the influence of Socrates, Eliot, and even Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard to reimagine Young Adult fiction.
George Goodwin is an author and historian. A history graduate of Cambridge, George was awarded a Foundation exhibition. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. His stunning debut, Fatal Colours: Towton 1461 - England's Most Brutal Battle combining medieval sources and modern scholarship to recreate the atmosphere of 15th century England, its murderous weaponry, rancid conditions and the ferocious and vicious brutality between embittered factions. Variously described as the largest, longest and bloodiest battle on English soil, Towton was fought with little chance of escape and none of surrender.
Sunetra Gupta is an acclaimed novelist, essayist and scientist, awarded as the 2009 Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award for her scientific achievements. Sunetra, born in Calcutta in 1965, wrote her first works of fiction in Bengali. So Good in Black was published in February 2009 and explores the burden and smart of memory, and the fluctuating ambiguities of truth and emotion within life. When American travel writer Max Gate returns to Bengal for the funeral of Damini, it is irrefutable that Byron Mallick, friend and businessman, donated milk adulterated with chalk to the women and children at Damini's shelter. But, to save his reputation, did he also have her killed?
Peter James is one of the UK's most treasured crime and thriller novelists. His Roy Grace detective novels have sold over two million in the UK alone and six million worldwide in total. The series is now translated into 34 languages. Peter is also an established film producer and script writer, and has produced numerous films, including The Merchant Of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. A TV adaptation of the Roy Grace series is currently in development.. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Brighton in recognition of his services to literature and the community. Earlier this year Peter became Chair of the Crime Writers' Association. Peter's latest novel, and second standalone title, Perfect People, explores the frightening possibilities of genetic engineering.
Robert Kelsey is a successful entrepreneur, writer, former City banker and financial journalist. And a practitioner in failure after a childhood and early-adulthood punctuated with both academic and career disasters. He read scores of self-help books over a 12 year period in an effort to overcome the low self-esteem that was driving the fears responsible for his failures. Becoming something of a self-help addict, he found that, while helpful, nearly all the books lacked two vital ingredients. First, an honesty regarding his condition - especially its changeability - and guidance that took account of the flawed thinking of those with fear of failure. What's Stopping You? is the result.
Robert Lacey is a British historian, journalist and author noted for his original research and his title as the "method actor" of contemporary biographers. He is the author of numerous international bestsellers. Robert's pioneering biography of Queen Elizabeth II remains acknowledged as the definitive study of British monarchy. Inside the Kingdom gives us one of the most penetrating and insightful looks at Saudi Arabia ever produced. More than twenty years after he first moved to the country to write about the Saudis, Lacey has returned to find out how the consequences of the oil boom produced a society at war with itself and the West. Inside the Kingdom has been banned from distribution in Saudi Arabia by the Ministry of Culture and Information, but is newly available in Arabic thanks to Al-Mesbar.
Kate Mosse is a writer, broadcaster, playwright and founder of the Orange Prize, as well as being the author of the best-selling novels Labyrinth, Sepulchre and The Winter Ghosts. Citadel (the third in her Languedoc trilogy), Dodger (a major stage commission), and Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty are all due out in 2012. A member of the Board of the National Theatre, Kate is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Named European Woman of Achievement for Contribution to the Arts in 2000, in 2006, she was awarded an Honorary Masters Degree by the University of Chichester, her hometown, for her contribution to the arts.
Greg Mosse is a very experienced author, translator, editor and creative writing teacher, specialising in intensive residential workshops. He has run classes at literary festivals throughout the UK and group and individual classes in France. His own background in writing began in scripts for the theatre, several of which he performed himself. He then moved to Paris where he taught theatre as well as developing a career in technical and literary translation (French and Spanish). He has also worked extensively in secondary education and has higher education qualifications from the University of London, the Institute of Linguists, Paris-Sorbonne and North London University. More recently Greg began work devising and designing the online reading and creative writing website www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk which received millions of visits as it grew into a fully fledged creative community. He has continued to publish short stories and translations
Dominic Prince is a freelance journalist and documentary maker who writes for the Telegraph, Sunday Times, Mail, Tatler and Private Eye and has made award-winning films on Lester Piggott and the last Waterloo Cup.Jumbo to Jockey is part memoir, sports book and expose on the dark world of horse racing. In a mid-life vow to realise a childhood dream, he makes drastic changes to an overindulgent lifestyle in order to make the weight for the 4pm at Wincanton, where he joins the very particular world of jockeys, racing and the multi-billionaire owners who pull the strings at the world's greatest race courses.
Andrew Rawnsley is a multiple award-winning writer and broadcaster. The Associate Editor and Chief Political Commentator of the Observer, he has won a string of prestigious prizes for his journalism, including Channel 4 Political Journalist of the Year. He is a phenomenally well respected political commentator, having made a series of highly acclaimed TV documentaries and presenting renowned flagship political programmes, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Andrew's award-winning and bestselling account of the rise of New Labour and its first term in office,Servants of the People, was praised for its keen insight and sheer narrative thrill. Andrew's latest book, In The End of the Party , provides the definitive account of the rise and fall of New Labour.
Alex Scarrow lives in the UK. He spent the first 10 years out of college in the music business chasing record deals and the next 12 years in the computer games business as a graphic artist and eventually a games designer. He has worked on computer games from Waterworld, Evolva, The Thing, Spartan, Gates of Troy, and Legion Arena. In 2005 he got his first book deal with Orion, writing adult thrillers. And in 2009 he signed up with Puffin to write the TimeRiders series.
David Whitley was born in 1984 and graduated from the University of Oxford with a double First and a passion for writing children's fiction. Aged 17 his first children's novel was shortlisted for the Kathleen Fidler Award and at 20 he won the Cheshire Prize for Literature for a children's short story; the youngest writer ever to do so. He is also a keen actor, director and chorister. David currently lives in Cheshire and is working on his second novel. His highly praised novel, The Midnight Charter, and its sequel, The Children of the Lost are both set in Agora, the ancient city-state where everything has a price - memories, emotions, and even children.
Xinran Xue was born in Beijing in 1958. She was a radio journalist before moving to London, where she wrote the bestselling book, The Good Women of China (2002), a collection of stories drawn from hundreds of interviews conducted during her time as a presenter on her ground-breaking program Words on the Night Breeze (1989-1997). It has now been translated into thirty languages. She is also the author of Sky Burial (2004); What the Chinese Don't Eat (2006), based on her columns in The Guardian. She often advises Western media (including BBC and Sky News) about Western relations with China, and makes frequent radio and television appearances. She is a member of the advisory Board of the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature.
Rowland White wrote Phoenix Squadron (2009) a page-turning account of military history based around events in British Honduras in 1972. Rowland is also a Orion non-fiction publishing Director.
Click here for more information about Sharjah International Book Fair's special guests for Cookery Corner.
Click here for details of special guests from this year's country of honour, India.