Qatar: Katara Establishes Exclusive Braille Printing House
The Katara Cultural Village Foundation announced, the launch of first specialized printing press in Braille. The new press serves the publishing and printing needs of visually impaired in Qatar and other Arab countries. The new printing press is part of plans to expand the activities of the Katara Publishing House. Which also includes include printing 100 books in Braille for the visually impaired during 2021. The books cover a variety of themes and subjects for children and young adults.
Dr. Khaled bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Director General of Katara, said that the initiative to include the books for the visually impaired is part of Katara Publishing House social activities, and an extension of role that Qatari authorities play to cater to the intellectual needs of people with disabilities, including providing educational and cultural materials at all levels. Dr. Khaled also said that the works submitted for the Katara Prize for Arabic Fiction contributed to the discovery of literary talents throughout the Arab world. The Katara Prize for Arabic Fiction is an annual award launched by the General Organization for Cultural District – Katara at the beginning of 2014, and the Foundation manages it and provides support, support and full supervision through a committee to manage the award appointed for this purpose.
The award aims to consolidate the presence of distinguished Arab novels Arab and international, and to encourage and appreciate the creative Arab novelists to move forward towards wider horizons of creativity and excellence, which will lead to raising the level of interest and interest in reading the Arabic novel and increasing cultural and knowledge awareness. The Katara Prize is committed to upholding the values of independence, transparency and integrity during the selection process for candidates, it also translates the work of the winners into English and French, publishing and marketing unpublished novels, as well as opening the door to competition for publishers and novelists alike.
With the launch of the “Braille” printing press, Katara Publishing House aims to reach out to the visually impaired readers in throughout the Arab world as well as expanding its distribution networks in Arab countries. The number of blind people registered in specialized centers for people with special needs in Qatar reached 1659 in 2019, and the number of blind people in the Arab world is estimated at 7 million.
