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The forum spans two days, featuring over 60 creatives—including novelists, short story writers, academics, and critics from Egypt and the Arab world—who will engage in four main discussion tracks for critical analysis and reflection.
The opening ceremony took place at the Cairo Opera House, attended by His Excellency Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Chairman of Sharjah’s Department of Culture; Dr Ashraf Al Azazi, Secretary-General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Culture; Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qusayr, Director of Cultural Affairs at the Department and Director of the Forum; alongside a host of intellectuals, academics, and literary enthusiasts.
Alongside the opening, an exhibition displayed Sharjah Department of Culture publications, including Sharjah Cultural Magazine, Al-Rafid, Al-Qawafi, and Al-Masrah, as well as a selection of literary works across genres. The exhibition attracted notable public interest, with visitors eager to explore and acquire these rich cultural titles.
In his opening speech, Abdullah Al Owais said: “We are pleased to meet today at the Opera House to celebrate words and creativity at the Sharjah Narrative Forum. Sharjah recognises literature as both an aesthetic art and a bridge for communication, a memory that preserves identity, and a broad horizon for dialogue and study.”
He highlighted the significance of holding the forum in multiple Arab cities and capitals: “The initiative to rotate the Sharjah Narrative Forum among Arab countries creates a space for writers, creators, and researchers to exchange visions and explore the future of narrative across all literary forms.”
Al Owais noted that hosting the forum in Cairo adds remarkable cultural depth and reflects Sharjah’s desire to expand cultural cooperation with Egypt. He emphasised: “Its convening here brings together rooted authenticity with a renewing present, forming a broader vision for the future of Arab narrative. It confirms that honest, noble words can shape awareness and build thought. We hope this forum opens new horizons for cultural cooperation and further supports Arab literature globally.”
He also expressed gratitude to Egypt’s Ministry of Culture for its role in fostering Arab culture: “I take this opportunity to extend our highest thanks and appreciation to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture for its continuous collaboration, which has facilitated numerous cultural and literary activities, highlighting the vital presence of writers, poets, and critics in the Egyptian and Arab cultural scene. This reflects the leadership’s commitment in both countries and the deep historical ties between the UAE and Egypt.”
Finally, Al Owais conveyed the greetings of the Ruler of Sharjah: “I am honoured to convey the greetings of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, wishing you success and prosperity.”
Dr Ashraf Al Azazi welcomed attendees, highlighting that His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, is the foremost supporter of culture, thought, and literature. He noted the Ruler’s enlightened cultural vision, which has established a significant Arab and global cultural project. Al Azazi emphasised that Egypt always welcomes Sharjah, creating an open space for intellectuals, thinkers, artists, and creatives from across the Arab world.
He added that the forum brings together a distinguished group of writers, researchers, and creators under the banner of the written word, enriching contemporary Arab narrative. Al Azazi also stressed that the forum is not merely a literary event, but a platform for cultural dialogue, exchange of ideas, and documenting shared human experiences expressed through stories, novels, and biographies.
The first day featured three sessions: an introductory session, followed by two sessions dedicated to the forum’s first and second themes.
The opening session, “The Novel: From Orality to Artificial Intelligence,” moderated by Dr Abu Al-Yazid Al-Sharqawi, included a presentation by Dr Mohamed Hindi, Assistant Professor of Modern Literature at Sohag University, titled “From Oral Tradition to AI: Transformations in Realist Vision and Narrative Imagination.” Dr Bakhita Hamid Ibrahim, Assistant Professor of Modern Literature at South Valley University in Qena, provided commentary on Dr Hindi’s paper.
Dr Hindi offered a comprehensive study tracing the evolution of the novel from oral traditions to its development over centuries, culminating in artificial intelligence. He outlined three main stages to systematically present these changes. He emphasised the need to engage critically with AI-generated narrative, asking: How does the absence of human presence affect the reality depicted? What is the level of imagination in AI-generated novels? Can AI produce historical, critical, or psychological narratives that resonate with human experience?
While recognising AI’s role in engineering, medicine, and space sciences, Dr Hindi expressed caution regarding its literary application, stating that true literature is driven by human sensibility. He questioned: Who truly creates the text? What are its sources? Who is the audience? Can AI-generated text evoke the same human insight and existential value as human-created literature?
Dr Bakhita Hamid Ibrahim highlighted the significance of the title in guiding readers through the research. She explained that Dr Hindi’s paper, “From Oral Tradition to Artificial Intelligence,” encourages readers to explore the evolution of the novel—from its oral origins to the virtual societies enabled by AI—demonstrating a historical continuum from past to future.
Dr Bakhita elaborated on Dr Mohamed Hindi’s paper, noting: “The subtitle, ‘Transformations of Realist Vision and Narrative Imagination,’ underscores the evolution of the novel and its interaction with cultural, social, and political contexts. The phrase ‘narrative imagination adventures’ refers to the techniques by which novelists explore fictional worlds, transforming real-life facts into layered meanings. Elements such as events, characters, spatial settings, and language support this imaginative process, guiding readers through stages—from pre-computer dominance to interactive digital novels and robotic narratives—revealing the distinctive traits of each phase.”
She also highlighted that the conclusion of Dr Hindi’s paper mirrors its introduction, ending with questions designed to inspire further research and independent studies, giving the work a coherent methodological structure.
The first theme, “The Novel Between Human Imagination and Artificial Intelligence,” featured Dr Mahmoud Al-Dabaa, Dr Ibrahim Ardash, Dr Mohamed Hassanein Al-Dilaa, and Dr Intissar Mohamed, with Dr Osama Al-Saeed moderating.
Dr Al-Dabaa’s presentation, “The Novel Between Human Imagination and AI,” stressed that the intersection of human creativity and AI is now an inevitable reality. He noted that some contemporary critics reject AI-driven literature and art due to their upbringing in a human-centred creative culture. Conversely, future generations growing up with AI-based creativity may appreciate its literary forms and find new avenues for communication through virtual existence.
Dr Ibrahim Ardash, in his paper “Textual Analysis and Interpretive Study,” argued that AI-assisted writing is an established fact. Writers should develop their skills to harness AI for enhancing creativity, while critics must adapt their tools to assess this emerging literary form. He emphasised that humans remain co-creators, retaining the primary creative authority by directing AI, feeding it data, refining outputs, and shaping the final narrative.
Dr Hassanein Al-Dilaa, in his study “Similarities and Differences Between Human Narrative Imagination and AI Replication,” analysed parallels and contrasts between human and AI-driven narratives, evaluating their efficiency and emotional resonance. His research used examples from the world of birds (crows) to examine affective responses in both versions
Dr Intissar Mohamed presented a study titled “The Novel from the Perspective of Artificial Imagination: Towards a New Reading of Creative Imagination.” The research analysed the dynamic relationship between the novel and human imagination, exploring core issues such as the stakes of imaginative processes in light of contemporary cultural and social transformations. Dr Mohamed highlighted that understanding the novel through human imagination invites reflection on the epistemological and aesthetic foundations of literature, its symbolic capacities, and its vital role in developing self-awareness, empathy, and understanding of the world.
She emphasised that the interaction between the novel and artificial intelligence is not competitive but complementary. AI can deepen textual interpretation but cannot replace human experience, which is essential for producing literature. As she concluded, “The novel, as long as humans write from the heart of pain and hope, remains a mirror of existence, regardless of technological advancement.”
At the end of the first day, several writers shared personal reflections on their creative journeys, discussing intellectual and artistic development, challenges faced, and methods for evolving their work. Participants included novelists Nasser Iraq, Ahmed Qarni, Sobhi Mousa, and Israa Mohamed Abdelwahab, with Mohamed Atiya Mahmoud moderating the session.
The writers emphasised that writing is an act of life itself. Without it, humans would exist in another world. Whether through poetry, novels, journalism, or research, they argued that writing embodies the spirit from which all creative flows emerge—like the Nile River, which sometimes meanders, sometimes flows rapidly, sometimes slows, yet always continues, alive and unstoppable, without questioning what makes it a river, or what makes the writer a writer.
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