Ahmad Abdullah Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – 578 contestants from nine countries have submitted their works to compete in Souq Okaz' annual award ceremony in which poets, artists, inventors, calligraphers and photographers in the Arab world are given awards. This year, cash prizes totalling SR1.1 million and several handicraft and folklore awards will be given out. Jaridi Al-Mansouri, secretary general of Souq Okaz, said all entries have been referred to judges to select the works that meet Souq Okaz standards. Some changes have been introduced to the criteria used for selecting the Souq Okaz Poetry award. The changes were approved by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region and Chairman of Supervisory Committee. One of the criteria focuses on the topic of the poem and while another looks into the previous works produced by the poet. “Famous poets all over the Arab world will participate in the Souq Okaz contest this year. It's going to be a fierce competition," said Al-Mansouri. Muhammad Samman, spokesman for Souq Okaz, said the names of the winners will be announced in the next stages after the Supervisory Committee meets and decides on the winners. 35 poets from different Arab countries including Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Sudan and Mauritania will compete with each other to win the medal of Arabs' Poet and a financial award of SR300,000. 16 Saudi men will present poems written in modern standard Arabic and compete for a financial award of SR100,000. The same amount will be given to the winner of the best scientific invention. Five entries on renewable energy are competing in this category. 322 contestants from the Kingdom and other countries will compete with each other to win the awards of photography and Arabic calligraphy with total financial awards worth around SR200,000. A SR100,000 award will be given to the winner of the Paint and Poem contest. 180 contestants from various Arab countries will compete against each other for the award which seeks to strengthen the link between poetry and drawing and encourage more Arab artists to venture into the field. For handicraft and folklore contests, awards will be given to Saudi men and women whose works display and reflect their great skills. A SR150,000 award was allocated for the former and SR100,000 for the latter.
