The season will take place from July 11 to July 14, presenting a diverse cultural program that brings together intellectual seminars, critical lectures, literary meetings, and poetry evenings.
Souad Khalil | Libya
At a time when intellectual and cultural transformations are rapidly accelerating, and the need is growing for spaces where words meet ideas, and creativity meets dialogue, cultural initiatives emerge as one of the most important forces contributing to building awareness and strengthening communication among creators. From this perspective, Libya Cultural Season 2026 comes to reaffirm that culture is not a temporary event, but rather a civilizational project founded on knowledge and on the belief that literature and the arts are capable of building bridges of communication between peoples and restoring the role of intellectuals in shaping the future.
The season will take place from July 11 to July 14, presenting a diverse cultural program that brings together intellectual seminars, critical lectures, literary meetings, and poetry evenings. It will feature a distinguished group of writers, researchers, and thinkers from Libya and several Arab countries, reflecting the openness of Libyan culture to its Arab surroundings and strengthening Libya’s position as a space for dialogue and creativity.
The season begins with an opening ceremony that includes honoring a distinguished group of Libyan cultural figures who have achieved remarkable recognition at the local, Arab, and international levels. This initiative reflects appreciation for cultural achievements and pays tribute to the creators who have contributed to enriching the literary and artistic scene and strengthening the presence of Libyan culture in various forums.
The second day is dedicated to the theme of narrative and translation. The seminar “Literary Translation and the Making of Meaning” discusses the challenges of transferring texts between languages and the role translation plays in building bridges between cultures, with the participation of a number of specialists. Meanwhile, the lecture “Illustrated Literature and Imagination” explores the horizons of this art form, which has gained increasing attention in the global literary scene.
The focus of the day turns to the anticipated dialogue session “When the World Becomes a Story,” which brings together Omani novelist Zahran Alqasimi and Libyan novelist Aisha Ibrahim. The meeting opens discussions on the novel, the questions of writing, and the transformations of place, memory, and humanity. It brings together two literary experiences that have offered different visions of human beings and reality, affirming the power of narrative to rediscover the world.
إ he day concludes with a poetry evening featuring poets from Libya and Tunisia, keeping Arabic poetry present as a voice of human emotions and a space for expressing human concerns and dreams. It reflects the richness of the Arab poetic experience and the diversity of its schools and approaches.
The third day opens a discussion on one of the most pressing issues in the digital age: the protection of intellectual property and authors’ rights. This issue has become increasingly important amid the challenges created by modern technologies and electronic publishing platforms. It concerns both the present and future of culture and requires legal and ethical awareness to safeguard intellectual production and protect the rights of creators.
On the same day, researcher and writer Dr. Ali Burhana presents a lecture entitled “Water in Folk Poetry,” exploring the presence of water in the Libyan collective consciousness as a cultural and aesthetic symbol connected to place and people. The lecture offers a reading that combines literature, anthropology, and memory, highlighting water’s role in shaping an important aspect of popular heritage.
Among the season’s most significant highlights is the open online meeting with internationally renowned novelist Ibrahim Al-Koni, one of the most prominent Arab writers who has succeeded in presenting the desert as a philosophical and human space, transforming its details into novels that have gained wide international recognition. The meeting offers the audience an opportunity to discover his intellectual vision and explore his creative journey, which has transcended geographical boundaries to become part of world literature.
The season continues its activities on its final day with a seminar discussing the reality of print and electronic publishing, along with the challenges and new opportunities emerging from the digital transformation taking place around the world. The program also includes a lecture by Dr. Fadel Bayat on his book “Libya Through the Documents of the Ottoman Archives,” which opens a window onto history through documentary evidence and offers a scholarly, documented reading of important stages in Libya’s history.
The season concludes with a poetry evening featuring poets from Libya and Morocco, followed by an artistic performance by singer Hisham Areesh. This closing event reaffirms that culture is an integrated system in which words meet music and poetry meets the arts, together forming a human language capable of bringing peoples closer and enriching the spirit.
Read: Cinema – Dynamic Language of Human Existence
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Souad Khalil, hailing from Benghazi Libya, is a writer, poet, and translator. She has been writing on culture, literature and other general topics.
