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The Desert and the Novel with Ibrahim El-Koni
Programme Type
Language
Venue
Capital Suite - ADNEC
Date & Time
- 04 May 04:00 PM
Session Details
In all the works of the esteemed novelist Ibrahim Al-Koni, the desert stands as a rich arena for the grand human epic. How did Al-Koni manage to extract meaning from the void—what the desert represents in terms of barrenness, harshness, and emptiness—and turn it into fertile ground for narrative and existential reflection?
Al-Koni believes that “existence is a desert, and the desert is the stage for the novel, because the human being is a migrant from cradle to grave—even in the absence of the desert—since worldly life is but a journey between two voids: the void of the cradle and the void of the grave. The existential experience is a quest for meaning, which we like to call truth, and the solace in navigating its maze is: freedom!”
In this intensive workshop, Al-Koni presents his unique perspective on the relationship between the desert and the novel, considering the desert as a metaphor for migration, meaning, truth, freedom—and the myths that lie between them.
Speakers
Ibrahim Al-Koni
Ibrahim Al-Koni
