Doha: Qatar University organized a seminar on the art of writing short stories. The Department of Arabic Language and Literature and the Culture and Arts Branch of the Qatar University Alumni Association, in collaboration with Al Rawnaq Company, organized this training workshop. The seminar’s objective was to upscale the literary skills of the students.

The workshop was open to both male and female students of the university. It was announced in mid-October 2023 and is organized  under the slogan: “Towards a green, vibrant environment,” with the aim of refining and framing literary skills and consolidating the correct sense of short story writing among students.

While speaking on the importance of holding the training workshops, Dr Ahmed Haji Safar, Associate Professor in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University, stated that Committees on Student Activity and Communication in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the College of Arts and Sciences have to supervise the activities of the short story competition in cooperation with the Culture and Arts Branch.

On this occasion, two simultaneous training workshops were held for short story writing, one for female students and the second for male students. Both two workshops have introduced the art of the story, its types, and the principles of writing it and focused on the aspect of creativity of storytelling.

The trained professors reviewed the most important tips  of story-making In terms of form (structure, characters, narrative, plot), language (structure, lexicon, style) and contents. They also displayed and represented a summary of their own experiences to the attendees of both workshops, hoping that all students would reach the desired level of creativity.

Rami Abu Shehab, a lecturer in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University, emphasized that “The workshop dealt with a definition of the story, with an explanation of its artistic contents, and some strategies that are necessary to writing a successful short story.