Owais Cultural Awards winners announced

Dubai: The 13th edition of Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards honoured six Arab candidates who contributed to the Arab literature scene yesterday.

The awards are presented every two years by the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation — named after the acclaimed Emirati poet who died in 2000 — to honour Arab authors, poets and intellectuals.

The winners were chosen out of the 1,379 candidates for their distinguished work that reflected Arab thought and aspirations.

Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, who spoke at the award ceremony said: “For the past 27 years since its establishment, the award has honoured outstanding intellectuals, reaffirming the UAE’s position as a hub for creativity.”

Out of the 1,379 candidates, 240 applied for the poetry category, but only Egyptian Mohammad Ebrahim and Syrian Nazih Abu Efesh won.

There were 307 candidates for the short story, novel and drama category. This was won by Moroccan, Mohammad Ez Al Deen Al Tazi.

The literary and critique studies category received 234 entries and was won by Egyptian Ahmad Othman.

Other categories

Out of the 409 candidates for the humanitarian and futuristic studies category only Egyptian Sayed Yaseen Al Sayed won and out of the 189 candidates for the scientific achievement category, the award was received by Emirati Khalid Abdullah Omran on behalf of Dar Al Khaleej Press, Printing and Publishing House.

The awards totalled $600,000 (Dh2.2 million), $120,000 (Dh440,400) for each category.

Speaking on behalf of all the winners, Al Tazi who won for the short story, novel and drama category thanked the foundation for the award. “The late Al Owais has made his name immortal through this prize, proving that Arabic literature will always have its place even with the emergence of new technology.”

Dr Afaf Bayatneh who represented the judging community explained why each candidate won saying:

“Ebrahim’s poetry had smooth transitions and his topics tackled daily issues. Abu Efesh won because of his meaningful philosophy, while Al Tazi won for succeeding to take us on a journey from the past to the future.”

She also added that Othman won for his studies, which explained and translated different topics. Al Sayed won for his studies, which were backed up with scientific findings.

As for Dar Al Khaleej, she said it won not only for excelling in the field of journalism but also for holding workshops and seminars.