Kuttab Café hosted cultural evening and a book-signing event in its headquarter in Dubai for Dr. Sulaiman Al Hattlan, founder and CEO of Hattlan Media. His recently released book Inspirational Stories: 30 International Personalities marks the first work published by Hattlan Media. The evening was moderated by Jamal Al Shehhi, and held in the company of writers, journalists, and other culture aficionados.
Among the evening’s highlighted topics was the state of the publishing industry in the UAE. Al Hattlan said that his coffee-table book, which describes the success stories of 30 inspirational personalities from around the world, was an effort to broadcast the positive spirit of each inspirational individual to those with dreams and aspirations of their own. He added “In light of the frustrations that dominate the Arab reality our youth need to read about humanity’s inspirational experiences to encourage them to pursue and fulfill their own success on both personal and practical fronts, and to reap inspiration from the story of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, and his philosophy “Willpower conquers the impossible.”
In reviewing his first coffee-table book, Al Hattlan explained that the stories of success and struggle featured in his book were derived from a collective human experience that knows no boundaries, geographic, religion, ethnicity or otherwise. The stories were collected from around the world, and are representative of various industries. He added that the idea for the book sprung from a radio programme he hosted last Ramadan on MBC FM, with the same topic. Al Hattlan announced that Hattlan Media would continue producing similar publications adhering to the coffee-table book line of publishing.
Jamal Al Shehhi, Managerof Kuttab Publishing and Distribution and Owner of Kuttab Café, maintained that the publishing industry in the UAE is thriving, and that there are many opportunities for both publishers and budding writers. He highlighted the need to provide upcoming writers with opportunities to shine light on their work and to present their works to the local and Arab cultural scene.
The evening also included an important discussion on intellectual property rights of the author and the crisis of literary criticism in reference to the void in the regional cultural scene of serious literary criticism that makes a successful writer.
About the book:
Inspirational Stories: 30 International Personalities features the success stories of 30 personalities from around the world. It recounts aspects of the global excellence in the experience of H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai who placed Dubai as one of the top international cities with its astonishing infrastructure and economic development.
Also, the book details regional inspirational stories of Abdullah Tariki, the first Saudi Arabian oil minister; Dr. Magdi Yacoub, the famed Egyptian heart surgeon; and Edward Said, the late Palestinian-American intellectual, scholar, and author. It also features international figures including best-selling American author J.K. Rawlings; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as well as many others from across diverse industries including medicine, commerce, literature, sport, and information technology.
The book is distributed by Kuttab Publishing and Distribution in UAE and will be soon available in all bookshops.
