JEDDAH: Every thriving literary culture depends on the architecture that surrounds writers: editors, designers, publishers all have their roles to play. And one of the people now helping to build that framework in Saudi Arabia is, fittingly, a former architect.
Salman AlArifi, 25, is the co-founder of SLKY World Arabia in Riyadh, the first overseas division of the American independent book publisher.
Mariana De’ Carli, founder of Florida-based SLKY World, said that the move was “an investment in a community that’s already producing world-class work.”
AlArifi’s understanding of Saudi talent and his ability to connect it with international audiences made him the right partner to lead the company’s new venture, she said.
Trained as an architect at King Saud University and recognized with the PIF Rising Star Award in 2024 as well as the Best Human-Centric Design Award for his contributions, his professional leap from architecture to literature is less strange than it first appears.
