City to hold poetry festival in March

Rhymes and rhythms from all corners of the world will soon take over the city as the first edition of the Dubai International Poetry Festival 2009 will take place from March 4-10 at Madinat Jumeirah and House of Poetry in Shindagha, Dubai.

The Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation announced today that more than 100 poets from 45 countries are expected to participate in the festival, themed A Thousand Poets – One Language. With 50 percent of the participating poets travelling from non-Arab countries, the festival aims at reflecting the universal nature of poetry as a bridge between cultures.

“The main objective is to encourage a positive cultural dialogue through art, and poetry in particular, which is deeply rooted in the Arab culture,'' said Ali Saif Al Shaali, CEO of the Festival. Shaali said the art of poetry has always been prominent in the Arab world as a media form and political power in old history. Now it's being used for minor purposes. “We're sure this will revive poetry, which should be the language of peace, art, beauty and passion,'' he said.

Poetry is also strongly rooted in Dubai as Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and his sons are poets. “We're adding the international flavor and becoming one of the biggest festivals in the world,'' Shaali said.

The festival's organising committee has confirmed that Nigerian playwright and poet Wole Soyinka, Winner of 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, will address the opening session of the festival.

Announcing the launch of the festival's website (www.dipf.ae), Jamal Khalfan bin Huwaireb, prominent UAE poet and Chairman of the organising committee, said: “This unique festival will feature poetry soirees, seminars, workshops, forums, short dramas and live performances.'' The main activities will be held at Madinat Jumeirah and House of Poetry in Shindagha, Dubai. Other venues include cultural centres, community clubs, schools, universities and shopping malls.

Even though poems will be recited in different languages, the public will be able to follow translations into Arabic and English on big screens, so that the spirit of the poems will be communicated to all delegates and the public.

“We're giving a chance to every flow of poetry. There's not color that we're excluding,'' Shaali said. “We haven't dictated any conditions to the poets. Their selection was done with independent international and regional consultants.''

The poems will all be combined into a book – the Book of Poetry – which will distributed to various book festivals around the world, including in Abu Dhabi and Bologna, Italy, in March, New York in June and Frankfurt, Germany, in October.

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum ordered the launch of the Dubai International Poetry Festival in July 2008 under the theme, A Thousand Poets – One Language, to entice world renowned poets to come to Dubai and contribute towards creating a lively platform for humanitarian and intellectual correspondence using poetry as a common language.

Leading literary figures expected to attend the festival include Dr. Mana Bin Saeed Al Otaiba, Saif Al Marri and Saif Al-Saadi from the UAE; Abdul Rahman Al Ashmawi and Ghazi Algosaibi from Saudi Arabia; Saad Aloosh and Hamed Zaid from Kuwait; Adonis from Syria; Ahmad Hijazi and Abdul Rahman Al-Abnoudi from Egypt. Other scholars such as Breyten Breytenbach form South Africa, James Fenton from the UK, Joachim Sartorius from Germany and Fernardo Rendón from Colombia, are also expected to participate.

In addition, the Dubai International Poetry Festival will give special focus to exponents of Arabic “Nabati'' poetry, one of the main components of the traditional literary forms still prevalent in Gulf Arab states.