Representatives of 23 Arab awards discuss cultural prizes

The presidents and secretaries of over 23 Arab awards concluded the Arab Awards Forum on Saturday.
The forum was held in Riyadh at the request of the King Faisal International Prize and under the patronage of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the prize.
Addressing the members of the general assembly of the forum, Al-Faisal spoke of the role and importance of culture as an incubator for Arabs, highlighting that it unifies them and achieves communication.
“From culture, creative initiatives are launched to stimulate positive awareness and thought,” he added.
The forum produced a number of results and recommendations, including naming Al-Faisal as honorary chairman of the forum, agreeing to hold the next edition on Oct. 6 and 7, 2021 and deciding to hold the third board meeting in March 2020.
The forum reviewed the present state of Arab awards, including their strengths and methods to develop them, honor distinguished creatives and shed light on creativity domestically and abroad.

Poetry
The forum included a seminar titled “Arab Awards of Poetry and Prose,” with the participation of the president of the Aboul-Qacem Echebbi prize from Tunisia, Ezzedine Madani, Saudi novelist Omaima, Sudanese poet Rawdah Al-Hajj, and the chairman of the Arab Short Story Forum in Kuwait, novelist Taleb Al-Refai.
The seminar was presided over by poet Ali Abdullah Al-Khalifa, secretary-general of the Isa Award for Services to Humanity in Bahrain.

Participants presented their ideas on the impact of poetry and prose awards on the creative cultural scene, the activity they bring to literary life and how they foster a spirit of competition and its role in keeping creativity alive.
In terms of cultural participation, the Riyadh Literary Club hosted poet Rawdah Al-Youssef in a poetry evening.
In addition, Al-Bahah Literary Club hosted Bahraini poet Ali Khalifa and Moroccan poet Mourad Kadiri, who both discussed the poetry scene in their countries.
At the end of the forum, the representatives of 23 Arab awards thanked Al-Faisal for his attendance, patronage and support of the forum.
The forum, launched at the request of the King Faisal Prize, is the first of its kind in the Arab world. It aims to achieve cooperation between awards to benefit from each other, especially as some awards have 40 years of international experience while others are more junior.