The Ruler of Sharjah Inaugurates the 21st Edition of the Sharjah Arabic Poetry Festival

The Ruler of Sharjah Inaugurates the 21st Edition of the Sharjah Arabic Poetry Festival

His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated the 21st edition of the Sharjah Arabic Poetry Festival on Monday evening. The festival will run from January 6 to 12, featuring the participation of more than 70 poets, critics, and media figures from across the Arab world. The event is being held at the Sharjah Cultural Palace.

At the opening ceremony, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and the audience watched a visual presentation titled "Poetry Houses: 10 Years of Giving," highlighting the key achievements and diverse publications of the Arab Poetry Houses. His Highness also listened to poetic readings by the following poets: Talal Al Junaibi  from the UAE, Hussein Al Abdallah from Syria, and Talal Al Salti from Oman. 

Subsequently, His Highness honored the winners of the 13th edition of the Sharjah Award for Arabic Poetry, who have contributed with their poetic works to enriching the creative landscape in service of poetry and enriching the Arab library with numerous notable poetic works. These were: poet Talal Al Junaibi from the UAE and poet Hussein Al Abdallah from Syria. 

His Highness also honored the winners of the 4th edition of the Sharjah Award for Arab Poetry Criticism, namely: Fathy Bin Belqasim Nasri from Tunisia, who took first place for his research on "Self-reflections in Contemporary Arabic Poetry," Dr. Ahmad Jarallah Yassin from Iraq, who took second place for his research on "The Intersection of Literary Genres in Contemporary Arabic Poetry," and Ibrahim Al-Karawi from Morocco, who took third place for his research on "The Poetics of the Trans-genre Text: From the Anxiety of Origins to the Question of Boundaries."

Throughout its days, the festival will showcase poetic readings, in addition to a section for signing poetry collections by a group of creators. Arab readers will also be introduced to 12 new names from the winners of the third edition of the Golden Rhymes Prize, who contributed their poetic creations to Al-Qawafi Magazine across 12 issues in 2024. The festival will also feature an intellectual seminar titled "Arabic Poetry: From Stability to Transformation," where the audience will engage with a series of research papers and critical studies on key issues related to Arabic poetry.

The current edition of the Sharjah Arabic Poetry Festival will also feature the participation of African poets representing Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Chad, in line with the festival's goals of opening new poetic horizons and strengthening the gatherings of Arab poetry in Africa.

On the second day of the festival, the winners of the Golden Rhymes Prize – Third Edition will be honored. There will also be poetic evenings, an intellectual seminar titled "Arabic Poetry: From Stability to Transformation," and poetic readings. The festival will conclude its 21st edition with a poetic evening at the Sharjah Cultural Palace, featuring several Arab poets.

The opening ceremony was attended by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, along with Sheikh Salem bin Abdulrahman Al Qasimi, Head of the Ruler's Office, Rashid Ahmed bin Sheikh, Head of the Ruler's Court, Abdallah Mohammed Al Owais, Head of the Department of Culture, Ali Salem Al-Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah International Airport Authority, Khaled Jassim Al-Midfa, Head of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, Mohammed Obaid Al Zaabi, Head of the Department of Protocol and Hospitality, and a number of senior officials and poets.