With The Participation Of 100 Poets And Critics From 15 Countries, The Minister of Culture Launches The Activities of The Fifth Cairo International Forum For Arabic Poetry

Abdel Dayem announces the increase of  the Forum’s prize to 200,000 pounds and confirms that this new year witnesses major cultural events.

Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, Minister of Culture, launched the activities of the Fifth Cairo International Forum for Arabic Poetry, which is held under the title of “poetry and the culture of the times “ ,this edition carries the name of the two great poets Ibrahim Nagy and Badr Shaker Al-Sayyab , it  will continue from 13 to 16 January at the small opera theater . the ceremonies were attended by Dr. Hisham Azmi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council For culture, Dr. Jaber Asfour, head of the Forum’s Award Committee, Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Muttalib, Reporter of the Forum, Dr. Abdel Salam Al-Masdy, representative of the forum’s participants, Dr. Magdy Saber, head of the Opera House and an array of Egyptian and Arab poets.

For her part, Abdel Dayem announced increasing the value of the Forum’s prize to 200,000 pounds instead of 100 thousands pounds  to encourage the Egyptian and Arabic poets , confirming that the new year witnesses huge cultural events, starting with the fifth edition of the International Forum of Arab Poetry , followed by  the 51st events of Cairo International book Fair, in addition to the celebrations of “ Cairo -  the capital of Islamic culture “ , the activities of “ Egypt-  Russia year”  and other major events. She  added that the Arabs were famous for eloquence and poetry occupied a distinguished place in their societies. Poetry was ,and still , the essence of life experiences and a source of human knowledge until they called it “ the Diwan of the Arabs” , she indicated that, like other arts, it was exposed to development throughout the ages, and new templates and forms emerged with it in terms of content, language, rhyme For his part, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Culture said that Egypt has embraced Arab culture throughout its history and it opened its doors to creators from all parts of the Arab world, as it represents the means of expressing history, victories, ostentation, ideas, attitudes, etc. He added that poetry occupied a important place among the Arabs and acquired uniqueness and distinction, despite the fact that the Arabs has mingled with many nations .

The reporter of the forum said that the event is a festivity  for the poem, and it is the result of the efforts of the Ministry of Culture to provide material and logistical facilities to organize the forum in an honorable manner to suit the rank of Egypt .

As for  the participants , Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Masadi delivered a speech in which  he affirmed his pride in being in Cairo, which always has the ability to gather intellectuals with different approaches and differing opinions, saying that the first edition of Arab poetry  forum was organized by Egypt – represented by The general organization of culture palaces - in 1993 through, indicating the leadership of Egypt  which  supported Arab poetry despite the challenges that the region is going through.

It is noteworthy that the Fifth Cairo International Forum for Arabic Poetry is held with the participation of 100 poets and critics from 15 Arab countries: Egypt, Palestine ٬ Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Sultanate of Oman, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon and Yemen . Furthermore, it presents five sessions , two round tables and seven poetry evenings .Plus,  the name of the winner of the Forum Award will be announced at the closing ceremonies of the forum.