Doha, Qatar: The Katara Cultural Village Foundation has announced that the fifth edition of the Katara Prize for Arabic Poetry, themed “Mothers of the Believers” (may God be pleased with them), received 562 entries from 25 Arab and international countries.
The prize committee selected Sawda bint Zam’a (may God be pleased with her) as the subject of this fifth edition. The winners of the top three prizes are scheduled to be announced next June.
562 entries were received from 25 Arab and international countries. Egypt, Sudan, and Somalia topped the list of participating countries with 215 entries each, followed by the Levant and Iraq with 123 entries, the Maghreb countries with 113 entries, and the Gulf countries with 104 entries. Only 7 entries came from non-Arab countries.
The number of male participants reached approximately 482, while the number of female participants reached 80. Katara opened submissions for the fifth edition of the Katara Prize for Arabic Poetry, themed “Mothers of the Believers,” to all countries worldwide starting from the first day of Ramadan last year, and closed submissions on the thirtieth day of the holy month.
For his part, Director of Events and Cultural Affairs at Katara and General Supervisor of the Katara Prize for Arabic Poetry, Khalid Abdul Rahim Al-Sayed, stated that the fifth edition of the Katara Prize for Arabic Poetry, themed “Mothers of the Believers,” witnessed a significant increase in participation, reaching approximately 85% compared to the previous edition. This reflects the poets’ engagement with the prize, which aims to reinforce the status of the Prophet’s household in the memory of future generations and to highlight the impact of the Mothers of the Believers on the spread of Islam and the formation of women’s roles in society.
The total prize money for the Katara Prize for Arabic Poetry (Mothers of the Believers, may God be pleased with them) is approximately QR120,000, distributed among three winners: QR60,000 for first place, QR40,000 for second place, and QR20,000 for third place.
Dar Katara Publishing House has previously published three critical books on the winning poems of the first three cycles of the prize, focusing on, respectively, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Aisha bint Abi Bakr al-Siddiq, and Hafsa bint Umar (may God be pleased with them).
