Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity
The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity (Arabic: مؤسسة جائزة عبدالعزيز سعود البابطين للإبداع الشعري)
"An Overview of the Foundation"
It was proclaimed in 1989 in Cairo by virtue of an initiative from Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Babtain as a private, cultural and non-profit organization that is exclusively concerned with poetry.
The Organizational Structure
1. The Board of Trustees
The Foundation’s Board of Trustees comprises of the Secretary General and at least nine other men of letters, thought and poetry in the Arab world, while trying to represent as many Arab countries as possible. The Board is re-formed every three years. Th first Board was formed in the year 1991, The second Board was formed in the year 1994, the third in 1998, and the fourth in 2001. The present Board, which is the fifth, was formed on December 2004. It comprises:
1. Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain.......... President
2. Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Surayea.......... Secretary General
3. Dr. Tahar Hadjar.......... Member
4. Dr. George Tarabeih.......... Member
5. Dr. Hatem Al-Sager.......... Member
6. Dr. Hasnaa Al-Qunaieer.......... Member
7. Dr. Abdullah Ahmed Al-Mohanna.......... Member
8. Dr. Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Alawi.......... Member
9. Dr. Ali Oqla Irsan.......... Member
10. Mr. Farouq Shousha.......... Member
11. Dr. Kamal Imran.......... Member
12. Dr. Latifa Al-Najjar.......... Member
13. Dr. Mohammed Yousef Shaheen.......... Member
14. Mr. Abdulaziz Mohammed Juma.......... Secretary
2. The General Secretariat:
The General Secretariat is the Foundation’s executive apparatus. It includes the executive secretariat, computer department, and the research department, which carries out research proof-reading, editing and following up on the publication process, as well as supervising administrative and financial affairs. The executive apparatus particularly undertakes all preparations pertaining to the meetings of the Board of Trustees, the advisory body of the «Al-Babtain Encyclopedia of Arab Poets in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries», the encyclopedia editing office, the editing office of the «Al-Babtain Encyclopedia of Contemporary Arab Poets» in its successive editions, the arbitration committees, coordinating the literary works contesting for the prizes and reviewing the same, as far as formalities are concerned. It also directs work to the regional offices. The Secretary General shall be commissioned to represent the Foundation in many occasions and missions. In addition, the General Secretariat apparatus undertakes the implementation of the plans and policies drawn up by the Board of Trustees and follows up all the decisions passed by the Board. The first Secretary General of the Foundation was poet Adnan Al-Shayji, who served from the beginning of the Foundation’s establishment in 1989 until July 1991. He planned the arbitration and distribution of the first meeting in May, 1990 at the Marriot Hotel in Cairo. The General Secretariat had not been formed at that time, so the Foundation relied heavily on the Cairo based Modern Literature Association, chaired by the Late Dr. Mohammad Abdulmunem Khafaji. Thanks to its support, the Association has backed the Foundation’s efforts in executing its functions from its beginnings. In August 1991, Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Surayea was chosen to be the Secretary General of the Foundation. At the time, he was occupying the post of Head of Department of Culture and Arts at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters. He resigned and assumed his responsibilities as full time Secretary General of the Foundation since October 1993.
3.The Foundation’s Offices:
Due to the diversity of the Foundation’s work and the expansion of its activities all over the Arab world, offices were opened in some Arab countries, namely: Cairo office: It covers the region of Egypt, Sudan and neighboring areas, assisted by delegates in these countries. Tunisia office: Covers the North African area, assisted by delegates in these countries. Kuwait office: It covers the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula region. It is run directly by the General Secretary as part of the general secretariat’s work, assisted by the apparatus and delegates from the Arab Gulf countries, in addition to roving delegates from abroad, such as Asia, Europe, Australia, North and South America and Africa. 4. The Foundation’s Delegates In addition to its regional offices, the Foundation appointed a number of men of letters who are well informed about cultural and poetic affairs in their countries, in order to assist the Foundation in executing its project and meet its needs in their respective countries.
The Foundation’s Achievements
The Sessions:
1- The First Session: Cairo, 17 May, 1990. The prize distributing ceremony during the first meeting was held at the Marriott hotel in Cairo under the auspices of the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Mr. Farouq Hosni. The ceremony was attended by a large number of dignitaries who are interested in poetic, cultural and literary activities. Initially, the value of the prize was EP 43,000 (Egyptian Pounds forty three thousand), it was then doubled during the ceremony to EP 86,000 (Egyptian Pounds eighty six thousand). The prizes were awarded as follows:- The Poetic Creativity Prize, valued at EP 30,000 (Egyptian Pounds thirty thousand), was jointly won by the Kuwaiti poet Mohammed Al-Fayez for his complete poetic works and the Egyptian poet Ibrahim Eisa for his book of verse entitled: Habibi Aneed «My Darling is Stubborn». The Poetry Criticism Creativity Prize, valued at EP 30,000 (Egyptian Pounds thirty thousand), was jointly won by the Egyptian critic Dr. Mohammed Zaki Al-Ashmawi for his book «Literary Criticism Issues» and the Egyptian critic Mr. Mustafa Abdullateef Al-Saharti for his book «The Contemporary Poetry in Light of Modern Criticism». The Excellence in Poetry Prize, valued at EP 20,000 (Egyptian Pounds twenty thousand), was won jointly by the Iraqi poet Mohammed Jawad Al-Ghaban for his collection of poems: Inty Ahla «You are Prettier» and the Egyptian poet Khalil Fawaz for his collection of poems: Qalbi «My Heart». The Best Poem Prize, valued at EP 6,000 (Egyptian Pounds six thousand), was won jointly by the Egyptian poetess Olayya Al-Jaar for her poem «Do not Worry» and the Moroccan poet Mohammed Al-Halwi for his poem Fi Rihab Sibta «In the Vast Space of Ceuta».
2- The Second Session: Cairo, 17 October 1991.The prize awarding ceremony was held at the Opera House in Cairo under the auspices of the Egyptian Minister of Culture Mr. Farouq Hosni. A large number of poets, writers, critics, as well as press and media men attended the ceremony.
The prizes were awarded as follows:
The Poetic Creativity Prize, valued at EP 60,000 (Egyptian Pounds sixty thousand), was won by the Egyptian poet Abdulaleem Al-Qabbani for his complete poetic works. The Poetry Criticism Prize, valued at EP 60,000 (Egyptian Pound sixty thousand), was won jointly by the Egyptian critics Dr. Mohammed Fattouh Ahmed and Dr. Mohammed Abdulmottaleb for their complete critical works. Classical Poetry Excellence Prize, valued at EP 20,000 (Egyptian Pounds twenty thousand), was won jointly by the Egyptian poet Shawki Haikal for his book of verse «A Passage to Two Eyes» and the Egyptian poet Ismael Oqab for his collection «She and the Sea». The Excellence in Free Rhyme Poetry Prize, valued at EP 20,000 (Egyptian Pounds twenty thousand), was won by the Syrian poet Hassan Attwan for his poetry collection «Blood Baptism». The Best Poem Prize, valued at EP 20,000 (Egyptian Pounds twenty thousand), was won jointly by the Saudi poet Habib Bin Moalla Al-Motairi for his poem «With no Title» and the Egyptian poet Rabeh Lotfi Juma for his poem «Kuwait’s Liberation».
- It is noteworthy, in this respect, that the value of the prize in the second session was more than doubled that of the first session. The value of the prizes totaled EP 180,000 (Egyptian Pounds one hundred and eighty thousand.)
3- The Third Session: Mahmoud Sami Al-Baroudi - Cairo, 12-14 December, 1992.The Board of Trustees considered a way to develop the work so that the ceremony was not restricted to awarding prizes. Therefore, the Board decided to dedicate each session to a great Arab poet in order to commemorate them and to launch an intellectual seminar about such poets. So, the Board decided to name the third session after the poet Mahmoud Sami Al-Baroudi, the pioneer of Arab poetry revival. The ceremony, in which the prizes were awarded, was held at the Opera House in Cairo, under the auspices of the Egyptian Minister of Culture Mr. Farouq Hosni. A large number of Arab poets and writers attended the ceremony.
4- The Fourth Session: Abu Al-Qassem Al-Shabi – Fez / Morocco, 10-12 October, 1994.The Board of Trustees issued a decision stipulating that the prize shall be awarded during a ceremony held biannually to provide the committees and participating researchers with adequate time to prepare and write their researches and to issue publications about the selected poets of the meetings and their creative work. The Board of Trustees’ decision also highlighted the importance of expanding the circle of important poets so that the chosen poet comes from a country different to that in which the ceremony is being held. As Al-Shabi comes from Tunisia, it was decided that the ceremony was to be held in Morocco in order to show the importance of the Arab Maghreb poets and their poetic prestige in the Arab world. As Fez was the Moroccan cultural capital, it was chosen to host the ceremony, under the auspices of his Majesty the late King Hassan II and in the presence of his Majesty King Mohammed VI, who was then Crown Prince. The ceremony, organized by the Foundation in cooperation with «Fez Saiss» Moroccan Society, was attended by a large number of guests from various Arab countries, which exceeded two hundred poets, critics and personalities interested in Arabic culture.
5- The Fifth Session: Ahmed Mishari Al-Adwani - Abu Dhabi, 28-31 October, 1996.
6- The Sixth Session: Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir - Beirut, 14-17 October, 1998.
7- The Seventh Session: Abu Firas Al-Hamdani, Algeria, 31 Oct - 3 Nov, 2000.
8- The Eighth Session: Ali Bin Al-Moqarrab Al-Ayouni, Manama / Bahrain, 1-3 October, 2002.
9- The Ninth Session: Ibn Zaydoun, Cordoba / Spain, 4-8 October, 2004.
10- The Tenth Session: Shawqi and Lamartine - Paris / France, 31 Oct - 3 Nov, 2006 .
11- The Eleventh Session: Al-Babtain’s Encyclopedia of Arab Poets in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Kuwait, 27 - 30 October, 2008.
12- The Twelfth Session: Khalil Mutran & Mohammad Ali/Mak Dizdar – Sarajevo / Bosnia, 19-21 October, 2010.
The Forums:
- The First Forum: Mohammed Ben Laaboun, Kuwait, 27-30 October, 1997.
- The Second Forum: Saadi Al-Shirazi, Tehran / Shiraz, 3-5 July, 2000.
- The Third Forum: Al-Raheel & Al-Milad; Part of the Foundation’s Contributions in Cele-brating the Choosing of Kuwait as the Capital of Arabic Culture in 2001.
- The Fourth Forum: Kuwait’s First Forum of Arabic Poetry in Iraq - Kuwait, 7-9 May, 2005.
- The Fifth Forum: Mohammad Abdulmunem Khafaji and Adnan Al-Shayji Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity from 1989 - 2009.
References
- An Overview of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain, Compiled by Abdulaziz M. Juma’a, Kuwait Ninth Edition, September 2010.