The countdown for the final celebrations of the Al Owais Awards, to be held on 11 March 2010, to honor the winners of the award's 11th Session has started. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (Mother of the Nation) received the Cultural and Scientific Achievement Award; while poet Abdul Aziz Al Maqaleh received the Poetry Award; novelist Al Taher Wattar received the Short Story, Novel and Drama Award; , critic Abdul Salam Al Masdi received the Literary and Critique Award; and intellectual Jalal Ameen received the Humanitarian and Futuristic Studies Award.
The announcement that Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak won the Al Owais Cultural and Scientific Achievement Award was a topic hotly covered by the local Arabic press. This issue received a great deal of attention and appreciation particularly as this prestigious award is granted to great Arab personalities who have had a clear imprint on the Arab community. This award was received in previous sessions by the likes of Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri, Nizar Qabbani, Edward Said, Youssef al-Qaradawi, Hamad Al-Jasser, Al-Arabi magazine, Mahmoud Darwish, Adonis, Tharat Akasha, Juma Al Majid and Salama Al Khadra Al Jayyousi.
Today the Mother of the Nation joins the constellation of sincere and generous givers to society; this is a source of great pride and appreciation for the UAE and its people. Her Highness was chosen from among 148 candidates across the Arab world to be the recipient of this award in its 11th Session (2008-2009), and which is granted by the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation in Dubai in recognition of her role in cultural and leadership development, as well as in promoting the status of women and support their presence in the community, locally, regionally and internationally.
The Yemeni poet, Abdul Aziz Al Maqaleh, received the Poetry Award for his poetic creativity, and his ability to write in a pure, concentrated language that touches on the essence of humanity. He was also commended for his capability to merge modern poetry and contemporary techniques, and for encompassing heritage, national and human symbols in his poetry, to achieve his own distinguished flair in the linguistic aesthesis of his poetry.
Algerian novelist, Al Taher Wattar, received the Short Story, Novel and Drama Award, for his highly technical and exceptional creativity towards evolving very distinct experimental tools in novel writing, which hovered between originality based on real events to uncover social realities to the desire to present a new and ambitious artistic vision beyond the classical construction of events and personalities.
Tunisian critic Abdul Salam Al Masdi was awarded the Literary and Critique Award for his leadership in building bridges between Arab Criticism and modern linguistic studies by addressing stylistic and structural approaches, and by embedding Arab Criticism and presenting it as model that reflects the response of the Arabic text to modern and applied Criticism.
The Humanitarian & Futuristic Studies Award went to the Egyptian scholar Jalal Ameen in recognition of the accuracy and depth of his work, as well as the authenticity of his intellectual work, and his unique approach and treatment of economic, political, social and cultural issues.