Cairo — Under the auspices of the British University in Egypt, and in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Council of Arab Economic Unity, and the Arab Cultural Cooperation Council, a distinguished seminar titled “Culture and Literature… A Bridge for Mutual Understanding Among Peoples” will be launched at noon on April 6, 2026. The event will take place on the campus of the British University in Cairo and comes as part of ongoing efforts to تعزيز mutual understanding among peoples through culture, literature, and human dialogue.
The first session will open with welcoming remarks and an outline of the seminar’s conceptual framework. Speeches will be delivered by Professor Dr. Shadia Fahmi, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the British University in Egypt; Professor Dr. Hassan Ragab, Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the same university; Dr. Dyaa Helmy El-Feki, President of the Arab Federation for Training at the Council of Arab Economic Unity; poet Margarita Al, President of the World Organization of Writers (WOW) under the World Peoples Assembly; and Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, Vice President of the World Organization of Writers for Media Affairs and Secretary General of the Congress of African Journalists.
The seminar will also include a ceremony honoring participants, along with the signing of new publications by members of the World Organization of Writers (WOW).
The event will further celebrate the release of the poetry collection “AprioriUm” by poet and philosopher Margarita Al in Arabic and English, within the “Silk Road Literature” series, following its publication last year in Moscow in Russian by LIFFT Publishing House. In his introduction to the Arabic translation, Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid notes:
from the very first poem, the reader enters a space where breath, words, and images converge. The poetic voice does not merely narrate experience but embodies and enlivens it. The lines move like inhalation and exhalation—an organic rhythm reflecting inner turbulence and the soul’s longing for meaning.
The event will further celebrate the release of the poetry collection “AprioriUm” by poet and philosopher Margarita Al in Arabic and English, within the “Silk Road Literature” series, following its publication last year in Moscow in Russian by LIFFT Publishing House. In his introduction to the Arabic translation, Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid notes:One of the most prominent features of the book is its metaphysical atmosphere. Margarita Al writes from states of illuminated consciousness: tea becomes a ritual, conversation a revelation, and silence an invisible architecture. In poems centered on tea gatherings and intimate encounters, the ordinary transforms into celebration, and the everyday rises to the level of a cosmic exchange.
The motif of captivity and liberation recurs insistently. The lyrical voice moves “from one captivity to another,” suggesting that freedom is not absolute but a continuous transition. The poems inhabit thresholds—between word and silence, self and other, homeland and exile, memory and immediate sensation. This tension generates emotional intensity without descending into despair.
Linguistically, the text tends toward compression and chant-like flow. Sentences stream like breaths, accumulating rather than closing. A sense of continuity emerges, as if the poem resists ending. Time is animated within the poetry, and abstractions acquire tangible presence.
Participants are expected to enjoy the manifestations of poetry both as texts and as critical discourse. The second session will be dedicated to an open dialogue featuring Professor Hassan Ragab, Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, Dr. Dyaa Helmy El-Feki, and Margarita Al. The discussion will aim to develop joint plans between Arabic and Russian literatures, particularly in the field of bilingual anthologies within the framework of the “Decade of Languages” initiative launched by the World Organization of Writers, with Russian featured this year and Arabic the next.
This seminar serves as an important platform for cultural exchange among peoples, encourages constructive dialogue between diverse cultures, and highlights the vital role of literature and culture in fostering global understanding.
