Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity

The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity () is a poetry prize given out by the foundation of Kuwaiti poet and philanthropist Abdulaziz Al-Babtain.

Overview It was proclaimed in 1989 in Cairo by virtue of an initiative from Abdulaziz Al-Babtain as a private, cultural and non-profit organisation that is exclusively concerned with poetry.

In 2024, the prize has six award categories:

The Poetic Creativity Award in Criticism ($40,000 prize) The Best Poetry Collection Award (Best Diwan) ($20,000 prize) The Best Poem Award ($10,000 prize) The Best Poetry Collection Award for Young Poets ($10,000 prize) The Best Poem Award for Young Poets ($5,000 prize) The Honorary Award for Poetic Creativity ($50,000 prize)

Organisational structure

Board of trustees

The foundation's Board of Trustees comprises 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. The 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 fifth Board was formed in December 2004.

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 undertakes, in particular, all preparations pertaining to the meetings of the Board of Trustees, the advisory body of the Al-Babtain Encyclopaedia of Arab Poets in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, the encyclopaedia editing office, the editing office of the Al-Babtain Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Arab Poets in its successive editions, the arbitration committees which coordinate review of the literary works competing for the prizes. It also directs work to the regional offices.

The secretary general is commissioned to represent the foundation in many engagements and missions. The apparatus of the general secretariat 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 Marriott Hotel in Cairo. This was prior to the establishment of the general secretariat so the foundation relied on significant support from the Cairo-based Modern Literature Association, chaired by Dr. Mohammad Abdulmunem Khafaji. The association has backed the foundation's efforts in executing its functions since its inception. 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 from which he resigned in order to assume his responsibilities as full-time secretary general of the foundation as of October 1993.

Offices

The expansive scope of the foundation's work along with its varied activities all over the Arab world, it required offices to be opened in certain Arab countries, namely:

Cairo office: covering the region of Egypt, Sudan and neighbouring areas, assisted by delegates in these countries; Tunisia office: covering the North African area, assisted by delegates in these countries; Kuwait office: covering the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula region. It is run directly by the general secretary as part of the secretariat's work, assisted by the apparatus and delegates from Arab States of the Persian Gulf, in addition to roving delegates from abroad, such as Asia, Europe, Australia, North and South America and Africa.

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 to meet its needs in their respective countries.

History

Sessions

First Session Cairo, 17 May 1990. For the first meeting, the ceremony for the awarding of prizes was held at the Marriott hotel in Cairo under the auspices of the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Mr. Farouk Hosny. The ceremony was attended by a large number of dignitaries who are interested in poetic, cultural and literary activities. Initially, the value of the main prize was EP 43,000 (Egyptian pounds) but it was doubled during the ceremony to EP 86,000 (Egyptian pounds).

The prizes were awarded as follows:-

The Poetic Creativity Prize, valued at EP 30,000 (Egyptian pounds), 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), 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), 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), was won jointly by the Egyptian poet 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 Second Session Cairo, 17 October 1991. The prizegiving 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 members of the press and media attended the ceremony.

The prizes were awarded as follows:

The Poetic Creativity Prize, valued at EP 60,000 (Egyptian pounds), was won by the Egyptian poet Abdulaleem Al-Qabbani for his complete poetic works; The Poetry Criticism Prize, valued at EP 60,000 (Egyptian pounds), 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), 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), 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), 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

The value of the prize in the second session was more than twice that of the first session. The value of the prizes totalled EP 180,000 (Egyptian pounds)

Third Session Mahmoud Sami Al-Baroudi - Cairo, Egypt, 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 renowned 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.

Fourth Session Abu Al-Qassem Al-Shabi – Fes, 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 from 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 King Hassan II and in the presence of King Mohammed VI, who was then Crown Prince. The ceremony, organised 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.

Fifth Session Ahmed Mishari Al-Adwani - Abu Dhabi, 28–31 October 1996. This meeting was named after the prominent Kuwaiti poet Ahmed Mishari Al-Adwani and the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi was chosen as the host for this ceremonial event, with which the U.A.E. Cultural Society contributed a great deal. The prize awarding ceremony was under the auspices of His Highness Sheikh Zayed ben Sultan Al-Nahyan, President of the U.A.E. A large number of poets, writers and critics from different Arab countries attended the event.

Sixth Session Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir - Beirut, Lebanon, 14–17 October 1998. This meeting was held in Beirut under the auspices of Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. It hosted a large number of poets, writers, critics and others interested in the poetic movement from the Arab world

Seventh Session Abu Firas Al-Hamdani, Algeria, 31 October–3 November 2000. This meeting was hosted in the Algerian capital, Algiers to celebrate the two Princes of Poetry; Abu Firas Al-Hamdani or Abu Firas Al-Jamadoma and Abdulqader Al-Jazaeri under the patronage of President Abdulaziz Boutefliqa, in cooperation and coordination with the Algerian Ministry of Communications and Culture and the Writers’ Union. In attendance were a large number of poets, writers and dignitaries interested in the poetic movement of various Arab countries.

Eighth Session Ali Bin Al-Moqarrab Al-Ayouni, Manama, Bahrain, 1–3 October 2002. This Session named after the poet Ali Bin Al-Moqarrab Al-Ayouni, who never acquired his entitled appreciation. He was not under the spot lights of the large capitals as he lived in the eastern area of the Arab peninsula in a tumultuous period, which did not receive its due concern. Poet Ibrahim Touqan was chosen as an alternative poet in this session because he expressed the meaning of the Palestinian wounds, the outcry of martyrdom to the ears of the Arab peoples and made poetry a substitute for the rifle. His choice came as a reiteration of the Arab integration with the Palestinian Revolution, which is fighting its fiercest battles. The foundation decided to convene this session in the Kingdom of Bahrain as it witnessed a new era of openness and democracy under the rule of King Hamad Bin Eisa Al-Khalifa. It was under his patronage that the ceremony was inaugurated with the attendance of a large number of poets, critics and cultured personalities from different Arab countries.

Ninth Session Ibn Zaydoun, Cordoba, Spain, 4–8 October 2004.