Thousands apply for 'Prince of Poets' contest held in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Thousands of poets applied to take part in the 'Prince of Poets 2009' contest, announced the Poetry Academy in the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).

The event's organisers have also announced that there will be a 'special surprise' during this year's session.

Of the thousands who have applied, 200 poets from various schools in the Middle East have been selected. That number is set to be reduced to 60. Finally, 35 poets will participate in the contest.

The 'Prince of Poets' contest plays a significant role in promoting Arabic poetry and was able to cross the waters of the Arabian Gulf through Abu Dhabi satellite channel to reach hundreds of millions of Arab-speaking viewers worldwide.

The contest targets poets between the ages of 18 and 45 years. Each poem must be at least of 20 verses, and should not exceed 30 verses. All forms of classical Arabic poetry, whether verses are rhymed or blank are accepted, except for prose.

Contestants wishing to participate in free verse were allowed to do so provided that it did not exceed two parts of no more than 15 lines each.

The contest, which is organised by ADACH and sponsored by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, will award the first-place winner Dh1 million, in addition to the title 'Prince of Poets'.

The final episode of 2008 contest saw the title awarded to the Mauritanian poet Mohammad Ould Bemba.

The name of the contest, ‘Prince of Poets', was originally the honourary title granted to the Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi by a number of Arab poets in 1927, in appreciation of his poetry.

A number of major publishers and foreign literary magazines showed interest in translating the poems used in the contest into English to introduce them to various countries from around the world.