Abu Dhabi Prepares to Host 300 Poets from 29 Countries for Direct Interviews in January 2015

The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, is preparing to host 300 poets from 29 countries for direct interviews with the members of the jury in January, 2015, as it was announced by the Director of the Poetry Academy at the Cultural Programs and Heritage Festivals Committee - Abu Dhabi, Mr. Sultan Al Amimi.

The sorting Committees finished the evaluation of poems by thousands of candidates and picked the best of them, according to strict standards that were previously announced. Subsequently, the qualified candidates for the next stage in Abu Dhabi will have direct interviews next month. The members of the jury will, then, pick the poets that will take part in the different live episodes of the TV programme. The poems that do not respect the established technical and aesthetic norms and conditions will be eliminated.

The qualified candidates who were selected for direct interviews with members of the jury come from different Arab and foreign countries, namely: The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Algeria, Sudan, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Mauritania, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Libya, Mali, India, Senegal, Belgium, Guinea, Niger, Chad, and Kazakhstan.

Mr. Sultan Al Amimi expected that the current season will witness a very strong competition between the poets who have their eyes set on the title of the Prince of Poet in its 6th season. He also hailed the high creative and aesthetic aptitude of qualified poets.

This programme is an original and creative project that provides contemporary Arab poets with a chance to compete in front of millions of viewers. The Prince of Poets competition takes utmost pride in its ability to present young talents to the public of classical Arabic poetry, Amimi said.

The 6th season of the Prince of Poets competition comes to confirm the strong interest in eloquent poetry on the map of Arab creativity and on the agenda of the Cultural Programs and Heritage Festivals Committee Abu Dhabi, as an organising body. The 6th season also illustrates the high quality of the presented production, the diversity of poetic experiences and the expansion of participation to include poets from the Arab region and foreign countries.

The Prince of Poets has successfully introduced young blood into the tradition of Arabic poetry, and documented works and productions by young poets, through the publishing of many poetry collections in the previous years of the competition.

The Poetry Academy in Abu Dhabi has also documented all of the competition poems by publishing poetry collections that compiled the different participations in the previous seasons.

Considered as one of the most influential TV programmes in the Arab region, the Prince of Poets is inspired by the entrenched Arab heritage. It aims at restoring great works of poetry and literature. The programme also seeks to revive the Arab cultural heritage while stimulating creative production on the contemporary poetry scene in the Arab region.

The previous season of the Prince of Poets was broadcast over 10 weeks (May-July 2013). The Prince of Poets is organised every two years alternately with the Millions Poet which had brought the curtain down on its last season in May, 2014.

In June 2013, Egyptian poet Alaa Janib won the title of the Prince of Poets in its 5th season, receiving a Burda (a gown) symbolising Arab heritage and a ring denoting a prince. The winner of the 4th season was the Yemeni poet Abdul Aziz Al Zarai. Other winners are Syrian Hassan Baiti (3rd season), Mauritanian Sidi Mohamed Ould Bamba (2nd season), and Emirati Abdul Kareem Maatoug (1st season).

Launched in 2007 as an annual mega cultural event in the Arab region, the Prince of Poets usually comes to a close with the announcement of the winner of the title. Over 5 seasons, the Prince of Poets has succeeded in revealing up to 145 talented poets, aged between 18 and 48 years old.

The Prince of Poets TV programme has recently received Al Owais Award for Creativity (2014) for the category of the Best Local Cultural TV Programme. In 2009, the Prince of Poets was awarded two prestigious prizes in the field of television production, both at the Arab and international levels. The programme was picked as the Best Creative Programme at the British A.I.B Festival. And with the participation of hundreds of Arab TV productions, the Prince of Poets has also received the Golden Award as the Best TV Programme at the Gulf Radio and TV Production Festival in Bahrain.

Prizes:

In addition to the Burda, the gown which represents the Arab historical heritage and the ring which stands for the title of the Emirate, the cash value of the top prize received by the winner of the Prince of Poets title is AED 1 million. The holder of the second position gets AED 500,000, the third AED 300,000, the fourth AED 200,000 and the fifth AED 100,000. The Organising Committee of the Competition also sponsors the publishing of printed and audio poetry collections authored by winning poets.

Winners of the Previous Seasons of the Prince of Poets:

First Season:

1 - Prince of Poets: Karim Matoug - UAE.
2 - Mohamed Ould Taleb - Mauritania.
3 - Jassim Al Sahih- Saudi Arabia.
4 Rawdha Al Haj - Sudan.
5 - Tamim Al Barghouti - Palestine.

Second Season:

1 - Prince of Poets: Sidi Ould Bamba - Mauritania.
2 Mohammed Ibrahim Yacoub - Saudi Arabia.
3 Ahmed Bakhit - Egypt.
4 Muhannad Sari - Jordan.
5- Adi Ould Adba - Mauritania.

Third Season:

The third season:
1 - Prince of Poets: Hassan Baiti - Syria.
2 - Bassam Salih Mahdi - Iraq.
3 - Turki Abdul Ghani - Jordan.
4 - Walid Al Sarraf - Iraq.
5 - Hikmat Hassan Jomaa- Syria.

Fourth Season:

1 - Prince of Poets: Abdul Aziz Al Zarai - Yemen.
2 - Hisham Al Jakh - Egypt.
3 - Mountazar Al Moussawi - Oman.
4 - Najah Al Arsan - Iraq.
5 - Mohammed Hijazi - Jordan.

Fifth Season:

1 - Prince of Poets: Dr. Alaa Janib - Egypt.
2 - Yahya Wahhash - Yemen.
3 - Sheikh Walad Bilamash - Mauritania.
4 - Hisham Al Saghri - Oman.
5 - Mohammed Abu Shararah - Saudi Arabia.