Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet receives 1,498 submissions

The Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) has received 1,498 submissions for participating in the Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet (Peace Be Upon Him) which will be organised from September 19-24 this year.

Katara had announced that aspirants for the Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet can submit entries for its fifth edition until January 31, 2021.

Katara General Manager Prof Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti said that the number of poets participating in the fifth edition of the Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet (Peace Be Upon Him) is the largest since the award was launched in 2016, with an increase of 29% over the fourth edition, in which 1,158 poets participated, noting that the prize committee of the fifth edition received 1,358 poems in the classical category, and 140 poems in Al Nabati poetry category. He pointed out that the largest participation for the current fifth edition was from Egypt and Sudan, with 509 poems, followed by participants from the Arab Maghreb countries with 378 poems, participants from the Levant and Iraq (333 poems), and from the Gulf states with 259 poems, while the number of submissions from non-Arab countries had reached 19 poems.

The Katara general manager affirmed that the event has achieved widespread popularity, and was well received by poets and interested people due to the nobility of its objectives, as it emphasises the importance of poetry in the unity of the Islamic and Arab nation. He expressed his thanks to the media partner of the prize: Qatar TV and the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) channel, while wishing the participants success.

General supervisor of the Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet (Peace Be Upon Him) Khaled Abdul Rahim alSayed said that the prize has received great interest from poets not only in the Arab region but in other non-Arabic speaking countries.

He pointed out that there has been a qualitative increase in the Gulf participants, especially in the Al Nabati poetry category which has reached 94 entries of the total 140 submissions in the category.

The competition is divided into two categories, Al Nabati poetry, a variant of classical poetry that is popular in the Arabian Peninsula, and classical poetry.

The much-coveted award carries cash prizes worth a total of QR4.2mn. The first prize winner in each category will take home a cash prize of QR1mn while winners of the second and third place positions will each receive QR700,000 and QR400,000, respectively. The 30 shortlisted poems, that enter the preliminary round, will be published in an annual book, which will also be made available in CD format.