Sharjah 24: The General Secretariat of the Sharjah Award for Arabic Poetry Criticism announced the three winners of the fourth edition, which was titled "The Convergence of Literary Genres in Contemporary Arabic Poetry”.
The award is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and is organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs at Sharjah Department of Culture, to care for Arabic poetry, and to stimulate the energies of critics and those interested in studies directed towards the poetic experience, in service of the Arab creative arena.
First place went to Fathi bin Belkacem Nasri from Tunisia, for his research "Autobiographies in Contemporary Arabic Poetry"; second place went to Dr. Ahmed Jarallah Yassin from Iraq, for his research "The Convergence of Literary Genres in Contemporary Arabic Poetry"; while Ibrahim Al Karawi from Morocco won third place for his research "The Poetics of the Trans-Genre Text: From the Obsession with Authenticity to the Question of Boundaries (Towards a Generalised Poetics)".
Professor Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qasir, Director of the Cultural Affairs Department and Secretary-General of the Award, said that "Since its establishment in 2020, the Sharjah Award for Arabic Poetry Criticism has enjoyed the continuous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. This patronage has re-read Arabic poetry from a comprehensive critical perspective by Arab critics, and presented a new critical vision based on the award's topics that discuss the most prominent issues of poetry with broad horizons."
Al Qasir added that the current edition presents 3 critical names to the Arab cultural scene, who have worked hard on an important critical topic that discusses "The Convergence of Literary Genres in Contemporary Arabic Poetry", and they have set their sights on presenting a new critical vision that examines the topic in depth, while being keen to adhere to the award's standards.
Al Qasir pointed out that the award records an increase in the number of participants in each edition, and in its current edition it has attracted more than 60 research papers distributed across the countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen, Sudan and Mauritania. Perhaps this diversity in participation confirms the importance of the award among Arab critics.
After ensuring that the research papers meet the stipulated conditions, the award secretariat entrusts a committee of specialists to conduct an initial screening of the research papers participating in the award to select the research papers worthy of competition.
After screening, the participating research papers are referred to four arbitrators, who must be critics and academics known for their scientific competence, to select the research papers that win the first three places according to agreed-upon critical criteria. They must submit an agreed-upon final report that includes the justifications for the selection.
It is worth noting that the award provides financial rewards to the winners of the first three places, with the first place winner receiving 100,000 dirhams, while the second place winner receives 75,000 dirhams, and the third place winner receives 50,000 dirhams.
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