"Sharjah Nabati Poetry Festival" kicks off Monday

His Excellency Abdullah bin Muhammad Al Owais, Chairman of the Department of Culture, said that Sharjah Nabati Poetry Festival has been a remarkable poetic event over its successive editions, and has established the presence of the Nabati poem according to its authentic reference. This distinguished presence of the festival and the attention paid to the Nabati word comes based on the vision of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, regarding the importance of Nabati poetry and the prominent role it represents on the cultural, human and societal levels.

An important platform for poets from all over the Arab countries

Al Owais pointed out that this interest is represented by the fact that the festival has become an important platform for poets from all over the Arab countries, stressing that His Highness’s initiative to issue Al-Heera Min Al-Shariqa magazine, which is concerned with Nabati poetry and provides a wide space for poets to publish poems and topics related to Nabati poetry, represents a new creative space for more poetic giving, and enhances the authenticity of poetry and its prominent role in societies.

Al Owais added that Sharjah Nabati Poetry Festival has a large audience that follows the evenings, during which a number of creative people with diverse poetic trends read, which indicates the poetic culture that has been formed over the years of the festival, which confirms, once again, the importance of Nabati poetry, the poetry of place and time, starting from the authentic word, to a poem with metaphors, music, and images that document history.

Honouring Emirati pioneers of Nabati poetry

Al Owais highlighted that Sharjah Nabati Poetry Festival has been keen since its inception to honour pioneers of Nabati poetry from Emirati creators, stressing that honouring represents an important aspect in the poets’ journey, which has been an incentive for Nabati poetry creators, noting that the current session of the festival will honour poet Zaal bin Obaid bin Sarhan Al Ghafli, and poet Awad bin Rashid Balsabaa Al Ketbi.

The Chairman of the Department of Culture said that the nineteenth edition will present events based on diversity and distinction, as 9 poetry evenings will be held, including a poetry session dedicated to female poets from the Arab world, and a symposium discussing the literary career of the two honoured poets, while the festival will move to Al Dhaid and Kalba in a scene that reflects spatial diversity, where participants will get to know the cultural, heritage and historical character of the two cities.

"Opening"

The Cultural Palace in Sharjah will see the opening ceremony of the festival, and the events will begin with a documentary about the two poets honoured in the current session of the festival, namely, Zaal bin Obaid bin Sarhan Al Ghafli, and Awad bin Rashid Balsabaa Al Ketbi.

The audience will listen to poems by poets Sultan bin Khalifa Al Tunaiji (UAE), and Abdulaziz bin Sadhan (Saudi Arabia), as part of the first poetry readings in the festival.

On the second day of the festival, the Cultural Palace will host the Honoured Poets Symposium, which will discuss the literary career of the two honoured poets, and will be spoken by Dr. Fahd Al Maamari, and Dr. Ali Al Abdan.

On the same day, a poetry evening will be held at the Cultural Palace, in which the poets will participate, Hamad bin Hashel Al Zaabi (UAE), Hamoud Khalaf Al Qahtani (Saudi Arabia), Khaled Khazim (Kuwait), Mahdi Al Jaberi (Yemen), and Hudhaifa Al Hadhalin (Palestine).

On the third day of the festival held at the Palace of Culture, the audience will listen to creative poets from the Arab world, namely Aisha Al Haddadi (UAE), Ahmed Al Sharari (Saudi Arabia), Matar Al-Buraiki (Sultanate of Oman), Maryam Flamarzi (Bahrain), Mohammed Al-Mannai (Qatar), and Amjad Al-Sakhri (Jordan).

"Poetry Diversity"

The fourth day of the festival will be characterised by a diverse poetic theme with a poetry session dedicated to a number of poets at the Palace of Culture, namely Sheikha Juma (UAE), Asma Ibrahim Al-Ghadami (Saudi Arabia), Majrad Shaera (Kuwait), and Thawrat Al Zeer (Qatar).

The Palace of Culture continues to embrace creative poetic voices at the festival, and this time the audience will have a date with a new poetry evening in which the poets Ahmed Balabdah Al-Shamsi (UAE), Abdulrahman Al Mudhahka (Bahrain), Salaf Samir (Iraq), Malik Al-Zayoud (Jordan), and Ahmed Khalifa bin Mutraf (UAE) will participate.

"Continuous Readings"

The fifth and sixth days of the festival will see a poetic momentum at the Palace of Culture, where two poetry evenings will be held. In the first evening, the poets Al Shadhili Al Ajab (Sudan), Suleiman Al Aqidi (Syria), Ali Al Mazrouei (Sultanate of Oman), Salma Al Hashemi (UAE), Salma Al Jumaani (Egypt), and Kawthar Al Hashemi (Sultanate of Oman) will read.

In the second evening, the poets Khalifa Mohammed Al-Kaabi (UAE), Salama Al Ahbabi (UAE), Ali Al-= Hashemi (Yemen), Dhanina Al Hamdani (Sultanate of Oman), and Al Bu Mahfouz Sidi Amar (Mauritania) will participate.

"Al Dhaid and Kalba"

In a scene that reflects spatial diversity, the festival moves on its seventh and eighth days to the cities of Al Dhaid and Kalba, where the cultural centres of the two cities will host poetry readings by many creative people.

The poets participating in the evening at the Cultural Centre in Dhaid are Mohammed Al Badi (Sultan of Oman), Jawaher Barashid (Qatar), Talal Rashrash (Syria), Marwa Al Sudairy (Saudi Arabia), Khaled Al Majed (Kuwait), and Nawal Salem (Nasaim Al Sada) (UAE). In the evening at the Cultural Center in Kalba, the poets performing are: Obaid Al Shuwain (UAE), Abdullah Al Ajouri (Jordan), Khaled Al Nabhan (Iraq), Al Anoud Al Wasiliya (Saudi Arabia), Hassan Al Obaidli (UAE), and Ahmed Al Maashani (Sultanate of Oman).