JEDDAH — Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the board of trustees of the Academy of Arabic Poetry, will distribute on Wednesday Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal prize to three winners from Sudan, Egypt and Iraq in Arabic poetry. Sudanese poet Mohammed Abdullah Abdul Bari will receive SR500,000 for a winning poem written in classical Arabic. Fawzi Mahmoud Ahmed Khidir from Egypt will receive SR300,000 for wining the prize in the theatrical poetry while Kareem Oudah Liaibi will be given SR200,000 for his winning poetic lyrics to be sung by an Arab singer. The SR1 million prize has been approved by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman last year. During the ceremony to be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Jeddah, Prince Al-Faisal will announce the increase of the award money to be SR1.5 million after adding a prize of SR500,000 for winners from the secondary schools and universities. More than 400 people consisting of poets, men of letters, journalists and other dignitaries are expected to attend the function. During the ceremony, the emir will also launch a report covering the current condition of poetry in the Arab World which was prepared by 30 researchers in 750 pages. He will also announce the beginning of the second year of the prize for which more than 200 entries were already received. Khaled Al-Faisal, a poet and a painter himself, has established the academy in Taif about five years ago.
