Award-winning author Qais Sedki visited Qatar Academy to share his journey and passion for writing, creativity and following ones dream. Sedki wrote the Gold Ring, the first ever manga graphic novel in Arabic, after leaving a successful career in information technology. In 2010, he won the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Book Award under the Children’s Literature category, the first time it was given to a literary work from the comic genre.
Meeting with various students from Primary to Senior School and also with teachers, library specialists and parents throughout the day, Sedki discussed manga in general and Arabic literature for today’s generation. He relates that literature — manga in particular — allows us to “learn about the little intricacies of a culture”. For instance, he says, some Asians believe that when a person sneezes, somebody is thinking about that person. Similarly, the Arab culture has its own set of beliefs and practices that the region can share to the world.
“I want people to understand that we share a lot in common. There’s a lot of similarities between Arabs and the rest of the world and there are also certain things that I think we pride ourselves in,” Sedki explains. “For instance, I think the social fabric is still very closely knit in the region. So in the illustrations in the series, we see the main character kissing his mother’s forehead out of respect. This is something we do very regularly and I think if we don’t actively try to show that, I think it’s a beautiful thing that will go by unnoticed”.
The Gold Ring tells the story of Sultan who dreams of becoming a falconer. The novel’s plot and setting are all set in the Middle East and with illustrations by Japanese comic book artist duo Akira Himekawa, it is a literary work with a local and global appeal.
“Part of the message that I wanted to say (through the novel) is that it’s very important for us to tell our children, our own Arab youth that we have our own cool, original content”. As a result Sedki was quite impressed when two Grade 10 students presented them with their own manga creations. Salem Alathba and Abdulrahman Al Mana are budding manga writers whose Middle Years Programme personal project both involved conceptualizing, writing and publishing online their very own graphic novels. Both are inspired by Sedki and believe that there is a growing interest and talent in Qatar and the region for this modern literature.
Sedki shared with them that when he won the literary award, it was an affirmation of his efforts and more importantly, “it hopefully showed you what is possible if you follow your dreams and do whatever it is you are passionate about”.
The Peninsula
