Muscat,ONA) - The Luban Publishing Corporation (Luban) presented ten new publications to open its course in the Omani cultural scene, and chose the tenth day of October 2020 to celebrate its new collection of books, in the presence of a limited presence of writers and intellectuals at the house headquarters in Ghala, due to the procedures imposed due to Covid 19 outbreak.
The publishing house had announced at the beginning of this October its name and vision represented by (Luban for the Dissemination of Knowledge), with what these words suggest of important elements in its path, making use of an original name in the Sultanate to support its publishing movement, and open up to a wide knowledge world. Luban also benefits from the experiences gained by its founder, writer Muhammad bin Saif Al-Rahbi, through his establishment and management of the Al Ghasham House in the past, over a period of eight years, before it stopped its activities recently.
The ten books that were published included a poetry collection entitled “Nawris” by which the poet Dr. Saif Al Ramadani returns long after the issuance of two previous books, and two novels, “Al-Sirah ... Tells” by Dr. Saeed bin Muhammad Al-Siyabi and “Political Dissociation” by Badr Al-Kiyumi, which are two important experiences in the Omani novels, as they are a new approach to issues experienced by the Omani person, in the past with the Portuguese occupation of Oman as documented by Al-Siyabi, or in the present, with fragments experienced by the protagonist of Al-Kiyumi novel. In addition, Fawzia Al-Fahdia's third novel entitled “The Other Side of the Story” deals with scenes from yesterday's stories and her relationship with humans, in a way that turns her into a myth.
Among the new publications of Luban is the book “Highlights on the Social, Scientific and Intellectual Contributions of Omanis” by Saud Al-Harithi, documenting important aspects before they disappear into our society. The writer Muhammad bin Saif Al-Rahbi presents his experience with reading and writing within the book “Shahd Al-Kalima … Jisr Al-Harf” presenting what he sees as answers for those wishing to read or write. Dr. Kamilah bint Al-Waleed Al-Hinaiya presents the book “The Children's Theater in Oman”, a research study that will be a reference that has remained absent in this aspect during the past stages.
Among the new writings that Luban provides to the reader are two collections by Bushra Salman entitled “On the Beach of Longing” and “Lavender of the Letters” by Bahjat Al Ma’asbi. The ten books are completed with the publication of “Rebuilding Education” by Dr. Khaled Al-Jardani, which, despite its small size, provides an important prescription for its topic in a focused scientific methodology.
The Director General of Luban, Mohammed Al-Rahbi, believes that Luban is an important addition to the Omani cultural scene, given the experiences that its employees have acquired over the past years. “We have lived together with the birth of more than 750 publications, most of them by Omani writers, and this indicates that the arena is hungry for a publishing house that serves as an umbrella for the writers in Oman, stressing the importance of referring to the existence of other institutions and publishing houses that complement each other. This has led to the rise of the publishing movement in the Sultanate from a few books in 2012 according to the Arab Cultural Development Report to hundreds annually.”
Al-Rahbi believes that Luban will play its role in printing and publishing the book in the Sultanate through more than one choice for authors, from the beginning writers, with its multi-level editing services, and the beginning publishers with its services which include obtaining approval from the Ministry of Information, its review and design, and book delivery, with more than one mechanism in the sale process. Al-Rahbi denied that publishing books in the Sultanate is more expensive than other countries in which some writers used to publish. He said that the differences are often small, due to the presence of somewhat cheaper printing services, but with the expense of shipping costs and waiting at least a month for the arrival of books, the differences become very little, noting that the institution approach is to print in Muscat, to say that Oman is capable of printing and publishing in the cultural and knowledge fields, and that it has strong and present publishing houses.
Al-Rahbi also indicated that Luban will provide support to the Omani writer through media marketing, via its various means, such as newspapers, specialized websites and social media, in addition to attending important internal and external exhibitions, which will be a destination for those looking for Omani publications, and in various fields. He added that Luban will work to establish specialized seminars, with lecturers from the Sultanate or well-known names in the Arab world.
(ONA)