The story collection "Sixteen Braids" of  the Syrian Ali Ammar Muhammad won the first place in  Al-Sharjah Prize for Arab Creativity in the category of  best story collection for the year 2019-2020.

"The braid symbolizes the woman. The protagonists  of my stories are all women and my story collection raises and discusses many issues that concern women in general and eastern women in particular, including  early marriage, the widowed woman, and violence against women." Ali said to the Syria Times e-newspaper.

He went on to say:" I challenged myself as a man and tried to get deep into the woman’s heart and mind and to understand her feelings. I tried to think exactly as she thinks and feel the way she feels, then I wrote about all of this from my point of view".

The female, with her splendor, vigor and narcissistic tendency, has topped the texts of the first collection of the blind poet Mazen Al-Kurdi.

Al-Kurdi poem collection, which he signed at the Cultural Center in Homs in the presence of a crowd of writers and those interested in cultural affairs, included forty-five poems adopting prose style with sentences ending with one letter, which gave the poems a musical rhythm with metaphors that Al-Kurdi had imagined with his insight and emotions turning these poems into artistic images full of beauty and creativity.

The talented poet explained that "The Roses lover" which is a symbol of the female with all the meanings of giving, love and hope is but a summary of his experience, each poem recounts the story of a woman that had passed through his life, as the mother, the wife, the beloved, and the motherland.

In his book "History and Heritage of Qara City", recently published by the Syrian General Organization of Books, Syrian writer Abd al-Rahman Mahmoud Haider presents valuable information about an important aspect of the city's history, heritage and environment. 

The writer divided his 366-page book into nine chapters. The first includes a historical and archeological review on the city. It mentions the archaeological places of Qara, such as the Roman canals, the city's bath and the Cave of Sofia, while the second chapter talks about the city's natural geography, climate, water, farms, home water wells and irrigation and drinking water projects.

Homs, ST- More than 2000 diverse books were included in the book exhibition  that was opened  recently in the hall of the College of Science at Al-Baath University with the participation of "Dar Al-Huda" for publication. The exhibition forms an opportunity for students to research  various books due to the diversity of  displayed publications, which included scientific, literary, cultural and social books, as well as references that interest students from various specializations.

Kabi Ibrahim, head of the Culture and Information Office at the Student Union Branch at the University told SANA that these exhibitions come in response to the students ’need to obtain books and references that are of interest to their specialties and at reasonable prices for them, pointing out that the exhibition included all kinds of books that students need in their study. This, in turn, contributes to activate the "reading process" for the younger generation, who unfortunately have moved away from reading in light of the rapid access to information via the internet.

In turn, Tarfa Abdul Rahman, director of Al-Hoda House for Printing and Publishing, indicated that their participation in such exhibitions at Al-Baath University has become a periodical activity that consolidates the existing cooperation between the university and publishing houses in general to provide new publications of   books and references that interest students and teachers alike.

Student Aghiad Junaid pointed out that the exhibition constitutes a wide space for the student to obtain cultural, medical, social and philosophical books that interest him, considering that books are the most reliable reference for him, as he finds the real information in an atmosphere of pleasure and benefit.

In turn, student, Dima Abdel-Hay, who likes to read non Arabic  and Arabic novels,  confirmed that she used to visit all book exhibitions at the university because it saves time and effort especially that the prices of books in these galleries are often suitable for us as students,  in addition to the availability of all the required university references.

M.Wassouf

Yes, you were right “We are sentenced to hope”, more than two decades after ­Wannous’s death, his plays retain their ability to surprise and connect with audiences.  

It was March 1996 when the first Arab author was invited to give the World Theatre Day address. While Saadallah Wannous’s message was read out on stages around the world, the renowned Syrian playwright was fighting cancer. He died the following year, aged 56.