35 Arab poets compete for top honours

Abu Dhabi: Thirty-five new Arab poets will participate in the third season of the Prince of Poets television contest show that kicks off tomorrow in the capital, organisers said.

"We are pleased to have 35 new poets selected from the 200 who were interviewed by the contest's jury in Abu Dhabi in early May," said Mohammad Khalaf Al Mazroui, Director General of the event organiser - Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) - at a press conference yesterday.

"They were chosen out of about 1,000 formally approved [entries] from more than 7,500 poems received by the Poetry Academy from different Arab countries," he said in a speech given on his behalf by Eisa Al Mazroui, Director of Special Projects at ADACH.

The competition primarily aims "to detect distinct poetic talents that have not been previously discovered by the media, to encourage new generations on the development of poetic talents, allow them to interact with the distinguished poets, and to identify rhythms and rhymes and various schools of poetry," said Al Mazroui.

The third season of the programme will be launched next Thursday evening at Raha Beach Auditorium in Abu Dhabi.

"The Prince of Poets achieved global success and popularity," said Sultan Al Amimi, Director of the Poetry Academy in ADACH.

"The proof [of the contest's popularity can be seen in] ... the increase in the number of poets in each year, and criticism, both positive and negative...occupying the minds of critics, writers and journalists," he added.

The organising committee took into account the geographical location of contestants in order not to let poets of the same nationality compete on the same episode.

They also considered representation of poets from different regions in each episode.

The jury rules on the ability of poets to perform and succeed in their presentations.