Five individuals from a group of 15 qualified participants in the Classical Poetry category emerged as winners in the preliminary round of the fourth edition of the Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet held recently at Katara Cultural Village.
The five winners are Al Sayed Ahmad Abu Al Wafa (Egypt), Khaled Al Hassan (Iraq), Mohammed Oraij (Morocco), Hassan Aamir (Egypt) and Muhammad Alsag (Morocco). The fourth edition of the Prize started earlier this week.
The Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet is held in two categories – the Classical Poetry and Colloquial Poetry. The preliminary round was held in three episodes. The five finalists from the competition will compete in the semi-final round from which three winners will be selected.
The preliminary round in the Colloquial Poetry category will also be held this week. The five finalists from this round will compete in the semi-finals on Thursday, 26 September, from which three winners will be selected.
The closing ceremony will be held on Friday, 27 September, at the Opera House in the Cultural District. Three winners from Classical Poetry and three winners from Colloquial Poetry will be selected and the first winner from each category will be crowned with the title of ‘Poet of the Prophet’ for 2019.
This year’s edition received a record number of 1,158 entries – the biggest number so far, since the launch of the award. The prestigious award carries cash prizes worth a total of QAR4.2 million. The first prize winner in each category will get a cash prize of QAR1 million while second and third place winners will get QAR700,000 and QAR400,000, respectively.
The 30 shortlisted poems that entered the final round will be published by Katara Publishing House in a book and will also be made available in CD format. Sponsors of the Prize include Qatar TV, Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs, Masraf Al Raayan, and Rasool Channel.
Visit katara.net for updates and more information about the Katara Prize for Prophet’s Poet .
