The Kingdom recently established the “Book Authority” and “Intellectuals Syndicate” as umbrella groups for the country's intellectuals and men of letters. The establishment of these new organizations, which follows comments by the Minister of Culture and Information about the need for them, has long been awaited by the Kingdom's intellectuals and men of letters. The recent Second Saudi Literary Forum discussed the Kingdom's cultural landscape and participants agreed that there was a need for an improvement in society's appreciation for the country's culture and for the establishment of the two new organizations. The “Book Authority” and “Intellectuals Syndicate” are not intended to be mere administrative umbrellas for intellectuals and writers but are also meant to act as effective tools to protect their rights in the country. The establishment of the two institutions is expected to set the ambitions of would-be intellectuals and writers ablaze for a brighter future in the country because cultural and intellectual advocates can uplift the values and progress of any society. For this reason, the two institutions are expected to be active and effective tools for the betterment of society and the nation. The common idea surrounding the term “institution” is the establishment of something permanent in a society. Once kinowledge is institutionalized, it becomes part of our reality. At the recent literary forum, the participants expressed their appreciation for the care extended by King Abdullah, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Crown Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, for Saudi culture. The forum participants recommended the formation of an independent Ministry of Culture to take care of literature, folk culture, book fairs, arts, Arabic calligraphy, theater, music, heritage, cinema and innovations. __
