Tunisian poet and critic Moncef Ouhaïbi was honored at the 20th edition of the Sharjah Poetry Festival in the United Arab Emirates, winning the first “Sharjah Prize for Poetic Criticism” (Al Qawafi Award). He was rewarded for his presentation entitled “The structure of poetic discourse in contemporary Arabic poetry between metaphor and metonymy” (بنية الخطاب الشعري في الشعرية العربية المعاصرة بين ا لاستعاري والكنائي).
The second and third prizes were awarded to Moroccans Anwar Ben Yaïch and Houcine Benbada for their respective work on contemporary Arabic poetry. This festival, which began on January 8, saw the participation of 70 Arab poets and critics.
The 20th edition of the festival, which closed on January 14, included meetings and poetic evenings as well as a conference on the development of the language of Arabic poetry. The festival presented the play “Al Heera Majlis”, written by the Ruler of Sharjah and produced by the Sharjah National Theatre.