New regulations to pick ‘Prince of Poets’

The ‘Prince of Poets’ competition is attracting elite Arab poets to celebrate their poetical experiences, said Sultan Al Amimi, Director of Poetry Academy at Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and member of the supreme organising committee.

The competition organised by The Poetry Academy of ADACH is considered the Arab world’s biggest classical poetry competition. The main aim of the TV show is to promote and enhance classical Arabic poetry in a modern way.

Al Amimi pointed out that the poets participating in the fourth season of the competition are very talented.

“The show highlights Abu Dhabi’s role to keep poetry alive and deliver this important cultural achievement to the whole world. It gives talented poets fame in a fair way by giving an equal chance to all to participate and compete,” he added.

The competition follows strict rules and regulations to ensure fairness and professional selection of poets.

Al Amimi revealed that a Kuwaiti poet was terminated from the competition due to violating the regulations of the show. Faisal Al Hamlan violated the rules during the first audition with the jury last week in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, the jury has finished interviewing 150 poets from around the world who applied for the competition and have chosen the best 40. The jury will re-interview the 40 poets to short list them to 20 to participate in the live competition that kicks off in December.

Dr Ali bin Tamim, member of the jury, said: “The new judging methods enable the jury to test poets’ abilities and criticise them fairly. Now poets are required to improvise a four to six verses poem to test his ability to deal with the subject and to make sure he is talented. This test will run on the 20 poets who participate in the live episodes.”

He pointed out that many of the participants are from the new generation who enjoy an impressive presence. He said that there are strong female voices among the participants that attract more local and Arab audience.

The jury panel includes three specialised critics who are Dr Ali bin Tamim from UAE; Dr Salah Fadhl from Egypt, and Dr Abdul Malik Murtad from Algeria.

The ‘Prince of Poets’ is a well-renowned cultural competition. It was launched in Abu Dhabi in April 2007 by ADACH. Poets compete in all forms of classical poetry and can enter poems in a variety of styles, whether that is a metric (traditional) poem, or a free verse one.

‘Prince of Poets’ highlights the role of Abu Dhabi in the promotion of interaction and communication between classical Arab poets.

Last year’s contest saw Syria's Hassan Baiti win the much-sought-after and prestigious title of ‘Prince of Poets’, as well as Dh1 million. Mauritanian poet Mohammed Ould Bemba won the 2008 title, while Emirati Abdul Karim Ma’atuq won the previous one in 2007.

The past three sessions of the competition have witnessed a high turnout, and thousands of Arab poets have taken part. The TV programme has been instrumental in the discovery of 105 talents. The programme has been aired by Abu Dhabi TV each season, and has been watched by millions of classical poetry lovers throughout the world.

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