: A two-day international Malayalam-Arabic literary festival will commence here on August 8 with the aim of stabilising the literature and cultural heritage of the Arabian Gulf countries through the medium of literature.
Speaking to reporters, Kerala Sahitya Academy president Perumbadavam Sreedharan said there was mutual cultural and literary relations between these countries even before the Christian era. There are several Arabic words in Malalayam literature in vogue and vice versa, he said.
He said eminent writers in Arabic like Dr Habeeb Yousuf Sayag, Dr Shihab Ghanem, Ibrahim Mubarak and Dr Mariam H Al- Shenasi (UAE), Liana Badr (Palestine), Ali kan aan (syria), Mahamoud Saeed i and Asma Azarooni (Iraq), Mohammed Eid Ibrahim (Egypt), Azhaar Ahmed (Oman) , Salim Khalid and Al Remaidi (Kuwait) had already confirmed their entries.
Ghanem was a noted poet in UAE and had translated several eminent Malayam poets' work into Arabic. He would deliver a lecture on 'Translation experience on Malayalam Literature., Sreedharan said.
The minister for cultural affairs, K C Joseph would inaugurating the festival, he added.
