Keen to build human capabilities and enhance creative skills of the youths under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy, Kuwait Financial Centre "Markaz" supported Kuwait Writers Association (KWA), a non-profit organization that aims at nurturing the cultural and literature move in Kuwait and at supporting talented writers through providing them with the right venue to share knowledge and find the right resources. KWA hosted Najwa Barakat, a Lebanese novelist and one of the most prominent Arab female writers and founder of "Mohtaraf - Creative Writing Workshop", which focuses on developing skills of the young creative writers in many Arab capitals. "Mohtaraf" workshops contributed to publishing 23 novels during 10 years, for authors who have become well-known names in the Arab literary world. KWA, supported by Markaz, organized a five-day workshop by Najwa Barakat from 17 to 21 December 2019 titled "How to write a novel?" supporting young talented writers in becoming professional writers in the Arab world. KWA also organized a seminar on 18 December 2019 titled “Between Mr. Noon and Al Mohtaraf”, which opened a discussion on Barakat’s latest books “Mr. Noon”. Mr. Manaf Abdulaziz Alhajeri, CEO of Markaz, gave the opening speech of the seminar
In this regard, Alhajeri said, “Today, it has become a necessity to link economy and major issues with societies and individuals, in order to achieve sustainable development that transcends temporary and marginal solutions. Novelistic art has developed following to the development of our societies and the complexity of its issues. Novels reshaped the human being and reflected his experience within the surrounding social and economic horizons. Therefore, novels cannot exist without the individual, and the economy comprehends the individuals’ needs through the novel. Without this comprehensive understanding, we will not be able to provide solutions that enable society to develop.
Novels help us reach such in-depth understanding of the human being, and thus enable us to create constructive solutions that have positive impact on the vital issues in society”.
He added, “Markaz’s partnership of KWA’s event reflects our commitment to build and develop creative skills for the youths in several fields, including culture and literature, where we believe that developing societies requires the development of minds and cultures. Therefore, we are keen to collaborate with non-profit organizations that focus on the development of human capabilities enabling individuals to contribute in the development effectively. We at Markaz are proud of our support to KWA’s events, hosting the well-known novelist Najwa Barakat, who had prominent achievements in the field of Arabic literature and novel. We hope that such events contribute to creating a comprehensive and integrated knowledge environment that supports the youths, who we witnessed a great interest on the novel from, enhancing their creative skills and building qualified individuals that are at all levels and dimensions capable of competing in the Arab world and globally as well.
On his participation seminar held on 18 December, Alhajeri added, "Personally, I was delighted to open this important event, especially that I enjoyed reading “Mr. Noon”, a new novel written by Najwa Barakat, myself. The novelist explores everything, people, the city and the noise, addressing fundamental concepts related to Najwa Barakat such as the family, the city and the novel. In “Mr. Noon”, no one deserves to be marginalized, even the marginalized, because our societies are actively developing. In Barakat’s novels, there is no full stop at the end.”