Yemeni poet receives Al-Owais poetry award

By Faisal Darem in Yemen
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-05-11

[FAISAL DAREM] Yemeni poet Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh.

The Al-Owais Cultural Foundation, based in the United Arab Emirates, recently gave its 11th annual poetry award to Yemeni poet Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh for his contribution to the fields of literature and poetry in the Arab world.

During the award ceremony in Sanaa, Al-Maqaleh dedicated half of the prize money to support outstanding literary works annually in poetry, novels and short stories in Yemen.

Al-Maqaleh, born in 1937, earned a doctorate from Egypt's Ain Shams University in 1977, served as President of Sanaa University from 1982 to 2001, and is a member of the Language Academy of Cairo and Damascus. He has 14 poetry collections, wrote 25 critical and intellectual literary studies, and nine studies have been conducted on his poetry collections.

He previously won several national and international awards, including the Lotus Award in 1986, the UNESCO Arab Culture Award in Paris in 2002, the Knight Award of the first rank in literature and the arts from the French government in 2003, and the Arab Culture Award of the Arab Organisation for Education, Science and Culture in 2004.

Al-Shorfa met with Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh and discussed literature and the importance of supporting creative artists.

Al-Shorfa: What does the Al-Owais Award mean to you?

Al-Maqaleh: Perhaps such cultural initiatives, in their essence and meaning, reflect an appreciation of poetry itself, as the first Arab art. The status of poetry, with such initiatives, returns to the forefront of Arab culture, in which poetry assumes a leading role in serving the causes of our nation and our communities.

The recognition that I am receiving today is a gift to Yemen, my country, which nourished me and lives in me the way I live in it; this country to whose mountains, valleys and villages I whispered my poetry, and whose events and issues brought me to maturity. It is from this country that I set off to an Arab horizon, which I am proud exists in my poetry, my prose and, indeed, my entire intellectual life.

This award is also a gift to my family, who bore my preoccupations and my devotion to my poetry and its issues. I consider this award an opportunity to express my appreciation and gratitude. Frankly, even this would not be enough to thank them for all that they did in order to provide favourable conditions for my work all these years. Thus, I am not acting excessively in allocating half the value of this award to my family, while the second part will go to my second family of Yemeni poets and writers who are pursuing creative endeavours and ascending the ladder of creativity.

Al-Shorfa: What is your assessment of the literary situation in Yemen?

Al-Maqaleh: The poetry scene in our country is not much different than in other Arab countries in terms of strength and weakness, presence and absence. But in recent years, I noticed a rise of a new, young poetry movement led by female poets that offers a new distinctive voice in this field, which has been dominated by men for a long time; a long absence that can't be broken by two or more female poets throughout the history of this ancient and medieval country.

Al-Shorfa: "The literary reality is a reflection of public life." Is this statement applicable to the literature of our time?

Al-Maqaleh: Creativity is an indirect reflection of the conditions in the Arab world and on the national level. Whenever problems and challenges increase, so does the need for people to express them, and creative artists are best at expressing that. But if those problems reach a critical and violent point, as is the case in the Arab world now, creative endeavour stands confused and unable to change, and that affects the literary situation now, even if the voice of poetry remains strong and clear in the face of these challenges and in its warning of the dangers facing the Arab world as a whole and each individual country.

Al-Shorfa: Many talk about the difficult living conditions for most writers, believing that literature cannot provide a livelihood.

Al-Maqaleh: There is an old Arab saying repeated in books and on the tongues of creative artists, "The craft of literature caught up with him." Those who take literature as their profession face suffering and harsh living conditions, and that saying seems to be valid for every time and place and remains valid for us Arabs although there are exceptions. Perhaps, the awards came to offer some of these writers some stability in their life, keeping them away from destitution and hardship, particularly writers and poets in the Arab world who do not exceed, in the best conditions, more than about one percent of the population, according to some statistics.

Al-Shorfa: Do the relevant government agencies perform their role in strengthening and revitalising the literary movement?

Al-Maqaleh: That is the duty of the organisations, and the ministries of culture were established to foster creative artists, elevate arts and literature, and encourage talent. But it seems that some ministries do not understand their primary mission thus far, and their budgets do not allow them to take care of all creative artists in the Arab world.

Al-Shorfa: What about the Al-Maqaleh Award and why?

Al-Maqaleh: It is my duty towards the new generation of creative artists, whether in poetry, novels or short stories, to devote half of the prize money given to me by the Al-Owais Foundation to the best collection of poems, the best novel and the best collection of short stories each year. A committee was formed to direct this and evaluate the works nominated to win. This is the least that can be done to support the active literary movement.

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