Dimasheq – Amman:
Minister of Culture Mohammed Yassin Al-saleh met at the ministry’s pavilion during the Amman International Book Fair with historian and academic Dr. Mohammad Mowaffak Al-Arnaout and novelist and academic Dr. Shahla Al-Ajeeli. The meeting addressed the contributions of Syrian intellectuals to Jordan’s academic and cultural life and their role in strengthening cultural ties between the two countries.
Al-Saleh praised Al-Arnaout and Al-Ajeeli’s academic and literary contributions, stressing the importance of highlighting the work of Syrian intellectuals residing in Jordan and strengthening cooperation between cultural and academic institutions in the two countries.
Al-Saleh also praised the seminar in which Al-Arnaout participated on Jordanian-Syrian academic cooperation and the ideas presented during the discussion, particularly the proposal to establish a twinning partnership between the faculties of arts at the University of Jordan and Damascus University, as well as the possibility of expanding the initiative to include other faculties and universities.
The Minister of Culture also welcomed the publication of a Syrian edition of Al-Arnaout’s book, From Government to State: The Experience of the Arab Government in Damascus, 1918–1920, following the publication of two editions in Jordan.
Al-Ajeeli is a novelist and academic who holds a PhD in modern Arabic literature and cultural studies from the University of Aleppo. She teaches modern Arabic literature at the American University of Madaba. Her novels A Sky Close to Our House and A Summer with the Enemy were shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, while her novel The Cat’s Eye won the Jordanian State Prize for Literature.
Al-Saleh stressed the importance of maintaining communication between cultural institutions, writers and intellectuals in the two countries, and highlighting the cultural ties that bring Syria and Jordan together.
