«أمير الشعراء» يستعد لموسمه الـ11 باختيار 40 شاعراً

"Prince of Poets" Prepares for its 11th Season with the Selection of 40 Poets

The judging and advisory committees for the "Prince of Poets" program held a meeting yesterday evening at the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage to select the 40 poets who will compete in the stage preceding the announcement of the 20 finalists who will qualify for the program's live episodes. This selection process is part of the preparations for the launch of the live episodes of the 11th season of the program.

Dr. Sultan Al Ameemi, Acting Executive Director of the Poetry and Heritage Sector at the Authority, attended the meeting along with the program's judging committee members: Dr. Wahab Roumieh, Dr. Ali bin Tamim, and Dr. Muhammad Hajjo. The advisory committee members present were Dr. Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Badran, Dr. Imad Khalaf, poet Raad Bandar, and the program's media producer Aref Omar.

The judging committee had concluded the interview stage last Wednesday at the Al Raha Beach Theater in Abu Dhabi. The stage saw the participation of approximately 150 poets from 24 countries, who qualified after the screening of nearly 1,000 poems submitted by poets from 33 countries for the program. The program, considered one of the most important and largest Arabic poetry competitions, is organized by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage every two years.

The competition mechanism in "Prince of Poets" comprises four stages culminating in the awarding of the title. Starting with the first stage of the final competitions, the 20 participating poets will compete, with 15 moving on to the next stage. From these 15, six will qualify for the third stage, "the semi-final." Finally, the last stage will see the announcement of the ranking of the first six positions.

The winner of the first place will be crowned "Prince of Poets," awarded the "Bard of Poetry" and the Emirate ring, and receive a prize of one million dirhams. The second-place winner will receive a prize of 500,000 dirhams, the third-place winner will receive 300,000 dirhams, the fourth-place winner will receive 200,000 dirhams, and the fifth-place winner will receive 100,000 dirhams.