From left: Dr Izzuddeen Bushaykhi, Head of the Training Committee, Dr Haya Mohammad Al Dirham, Head of the Jury Bench of ‘The Promising Poet’, Dr Hind Al Muftah, General Manager of Childhood Cultural Centre, and Amal Abdul Malik, Head of the Supervising Committee of ‘The Promising Poet’ initiative during a press conference at Katara yesterday. Abdul Basit
DOHA: The Childhood Cultural Centre yesterday launched “The promising poet” initiative aimed at promoting poetry and creating a new generation who can preserve the Arabic language.
The initiative would hone young Arab poetry talents aged 14 to 18 through training workshops and competitions. This is in line with Qatar’s strategy to preserve its official language. Last April, Qatar hosted the Arabic Language Forum.
Apart from discovering and developing poetry talents among schoolchildren and allowing skilled ones to showcase their capacities, the programme would nurture existing talents to develop them professionally in the future.
The campaign is set to encourage poetry writing in Arabic and create competitive spirit among students in the country showcasing their best skills.
Under the programme, students will be taught poetry writing, criticism and recitation skills and their Arabic literature legacy expected to strengthen patriotism and Arab identity and boost Arabic language creativity in schools. As the initiative prepares students to perform well in poetry nights and cultural festivals, the students would enhance self-confidence to stand in front of a large audience.
Students who wish to join “The promising poet” initiative should have a previous experience in Arabic writing as well as the ambition and desire to carry on the literary path.
Hind Al Muftah, General Manager of the Childhood Cultural Centre said: “The Arabic language is facing multiple obstacles. The domination of foreign languages is weakening Arabic in our daily life.”
“Poetry is facing similar problems. Contemporary poets tend to write in local dialects rather than the official language in Qatar, the Gulf or the Arab region,” she said.
She added: “Our centre, whose main concern is the development of children aged till 18, aims at enhancing their cultural capacities and encouraging creative young talents.”
Amal Abdulmalik, coordinator of the initiative and head of the contest committee said: “The contest for ‘The Promising Poet’ is a pioneering initiative launched by the Childhood Centre in order to revive the Arabic language. Our young generation uses foreign languages in daily life ignoring their mother tongue which is also the language of the Holy Quran. The contest goes in line with the centre’s strategy that develops activities and programmes for children. It also discovers new talents and enhances children’s capacities to preserve the Arabic language and identity.”
The Peninsula
