i was reading an arabic megazine and, in one of its pages
i saw some new arabic books, but the unfortunatelly i couldn't see any Omani name. and thsi wasn't the first time
i see such a thing...
and i beleive that writing has a very big affect in
developing the country..
so what is it, is it that we don't like writing or we are
not prepared for it or what..??

There r soo many omani writeers.. maybe u just need to get the right book. Especially sha3ers... we've got loads of them. n U know what? Just to proof how good Omanis are at shi3irs, PPl stated that their soo good in it, U could also read the shi3ir BACK to Font and it would then still make sense. I hope u know wht I mean. There r many students I know at the mo. who r majoring and doing their PhD's in Poetry n so.....

So lets just wait for the coming generation....:)

It's not that we don't know how to write dear..
The problem is that we don't have anyone to encourage us.. I don't think government cares much about that.. :(

And ppl don't read much anymore..so what the benefit or writing if nobody reads?? if it's a job, the writer baymoot jooo3 and if it's a hewaya and the writer has another job, then he/she has no time for it. :)

Carez

I_Maskery
thanx for the information, i am happy to hear such
news,

Safaa
thanx for yuor lines but why do we put the blame on the
government always, why don't we encourage each other
because we want to read soemthing useful, and helpful
at the same time..

intresting threads!!

Do u feel that the problem is still existing? one of my dreams is to have my writing published! and because of my loyalityto my country I want it to be published in Oman!!

Do u guys see that possible in Oman??

the same problem applies for arts and sports , and its simply cause there is no motivation to have such a profession. people over here dont get opportunities, nor get payed well. its a shame really.

Isn't it a matter of freedom of speech?

Nabhan, but if your art is good u dont need motivation to show it to people!!

I think we lack the initiative & courage to start by our own!!

Amo, I dont think thats the case .. freedom of speach exists plus not all writers write about politics.

Originally posted by Arabian Princess
Nabhan, but if your art is good u dont need motivation to show it to people!!


no matter how good your art is , u always need some materialistic motivation to keep u going strong. people need to earn a living and provide for their families , they dont have time to just write or draw and get nothing in return.

I understand your point Nabhan, but what am saying u dont need external motivation u need internal one.

Yes ofccourse u need materalistic reward .. but let it come from your own work. For example, you as a cartoonest you can collect your cartoons in a book, or make a small exhibition and sell your work!!
another option is to have a specific corner in a newspaper where you put your work there!!

there are many ways, we need creativity! I think what we lack actually!

There are many writers, and not only in politics, who strive hard for their poems, but when needing an editor they must go to Lebanon or Egypt or Morocco; plus when the books are ready another stress is asking permission to ministry of culture to make them enter in the country. At the end those 2 or 3 hundreds copies they make, are just distributed between friends, and this happens for those lucky who have the money to publish: money coming from their articles on local arabic newspapers, again when lucky. There are many others who just write and dream, no chance to publish even abroad.
Yes the internal motivation is important, but when you see that your country, its representatives, are not interested, well maybe you got bit depressed.
Arby ask BomBom about her brother M.Harthi, ok maybe he's famous for his political issues and for his life so bohemienne, but his work is huge and as friend i know how much he has to fight ONLY to get paid for writing an article on a magazine or newspaper.

so, the soloution is to sit there and complaint??

I dont think so and its good to hear from you that BomBom's bro strived for what he writes.

I dont know the real situatiion out there, but as long as I dont cross the red lines I dont think the govt would appose any writing!

Not oppose, apart when it comes to politics, but they do not encourage at least from what i know from my friends there.
Maybe they don't see it as a source of money to launch the country: i understand, as we discussed in the Sabla business, that actually main goal is recovering from previous bad years due to Afghan war and stuff, but am afraid that passing years to look at UAE as model, you'll miss your roots.

Amo, I dont know why do you get that idea!!

There are few competitions around that encourage writings, and also in schoools its considered as something encouragable.

I never felt that the govt doesnt encourage writings :lost:

ma bad, i meant publishing, dunno if my friends Mohammed Al Harthi, Abdullah Al Rhyami or Saleh Al Amri cross the lines cause they never wanted to translate for me translating from arabic, specially poetry, is just spoiling their work, probably yes knowing how they think :p but why not giving people chance to express themselves, and to the public the chance to chose if to read them or not?
Well good that they encourage children at school, surely this is the primary idea of H.M. Sultan Qaboos since he came to power: building the future starts from those who will run the country after some years :)

Originally posted by Arabian Princess
I never felt that the govt doesnt encourage writings :lost:

Would be good to encourage reading......:rolleyes:

Would be good to encourage reading......

and who said reading isnt encouraged?! :duh:

Princess,

Sorry, just being sarcastic. But I think you'd agree that the the Arab people no longer have a reputation for being scholarly types who like to spend their time reading, learning or appreciating the arts. Although I find more people in Oman like this than other places I have lived and visited, it still seems pretty rare. I've opened another thread about it anyway.

But it is relevant to this thread - how does one become established as a writer without readers?

I've always wanted to have my own book published. I think that what people really need is encouragement from their family, friends, and government.

In fact there are few omanis writers and the problem as nab said no motivation that encourge them to go on writing

Originally posted by mimosa
Would be good to encourage reading......:rolleyes:

Am with u mimosa first step to encourage reading and then writing will be resulted from reading

Originally posted by mimosa



how does one become established as a writer without readers?





that is what I wanted 2say.

al -baraka fee television everyone is rushing to watch a program and with more satelite chanells mashrooming for a non-reading culture in Oman we should say bye bye to entelectualability. Days of al -Salmi or al -Siyabi are sadly gone.

Yes there is a shortcoming that needs be visited to encourage writers.

We need al -Qaabs for our writers and we ought to give street names for egizampo :

Shaikh Hamood al -Siyabi st. Then you'll find lil sloths asking questions who was he ? A GREAT writer my son ! read about him !!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by mimosa
Sorry, just being sarcastic. But I think you'd agree that the the Arab people no longer have a reputation for being scholarly types who like to spend their time reading, learning or appreciating the arts.

But it is relevant to this thread - how does one become established as a writer without readers?

well mimo I dont quite agree with you, yes not all arabs enjoy reading but we have quite a good number of well read people, though many concentrate on political books I guess. Maybe we dont have the means where this is shown, as unfourtountly we dont have well established bookshop or library, but many those who read get thier books abroad.

I totally agree with you that a good writer need to be a good reader "at least in his field" because the more he knows, the more he will be able to provide in his book.

^ nice avator there :)

------------------------------------------

i think we have very talented brains among us .. but we lack a huge media and publication support... and u can say the media freedom is a bit stricted..

and this is not just with writers it with every thing... like footballers, engineers, doctors etc..

we find ppl trying to encourage other ppl to do so and so.. but unfortunately we dont have the supporter especially finacially ...

we read in the news papers that an omani student invented such thing.. but none will care abt it.. what ashame..

if we have a look UAE.. they got the money and they always encourage students and ppl to do stuff... and that makes the country more well known in the world..


cheeers:)

welll we do have a sabla writer !!! who is omani! DD !!! öA.T.G.M (http://209.151.72.86/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9806)

I like this thread.

that is what I wanted 2say.

al -baraka fee television everyone is rushing to watch a program and with more satelite chanells mashrooming for a non-reading culture in Oman we should say bye bye to entelectualability. Days of al -Salmi or al -Siyabi are sadly gone.


dont blame my little television!Its not the only cause!.
even where people READ alot they still stare on TV sometimes.

To me i really think the only solution is WITHIN us the new generation. We NEED DESPERTLY, we need to encourage the next generation. I remember when i used to cry for a book and due some circumstances I never got the chance to read and develop my skills.Reading is a SKILL, not everyone can read. People need to encourage their kids from the begining. You see those westerner's their Kids read from day one. you might think its funny to read a kid a story or to buy him books where he/she cant even hold it right but IT does have a Great positive impact on them..

To conclude:
You need to love the book and to let the coming ones to love it, THEN start complaining why we are not reading. Government has nothing to do to this.
It's funny when we blame something totaly un-related. Love it then try and publish it, just find the right place with the right time. We have alot of small competitions around where you can start your abuility to write at first!