- News - Al Owais Honors Abdul Aziz Al Maqaleh in Yemen

The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation honored poet Abdul Aziz Maqaleh, recipient of the Al Owais Foundation Poetry Award in its 11th session. The honoring took place in Sana'a on Saturday, 11th April 2010, amidst a large number of official and cultural events held at the Yemen Centre of Studies and Research in Sana'a.
The ceremony was attended by the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation delegation, headed by its Secretary-General Abdul Hamid Ahmed, Dr. Mohammad Abdullah Al Mutawa and Nasser Hussein Al Aboudi, members of the Board of Trustees; and Abdul Ilah Abdul Qadir, the Foundation's Executive Director. Also attending from the Yemeni side were Dr. Yasin Saeed Noman, Secretary-General, Yemeni Socialist Party; Yemeni Judge and activist Abdulsalam Sabra; Minister of Information, H.E Hassan Al Lozi; Minister of Education H.E Abdul-Salam Al Gofi; as well as a large number of the Yemeni Shura Council, scholars and academics, authors and intellectuals, and members of the local and foreign media in Yemen.
In her address, Dr. Huda Ablan, Secretary-General of the Yemeni Writers Union, welcomed all the guests and commended the decision of the Al Owais Foundation in awarding the Poetry Award to Yemeni poet, Dr. Abdul Aziz al-Maqaleh.

In his speech during the ceremony, Secretary-General of the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural, H.E Abdul Hamid Ahmed commented:
"It is with great pleasure that I, and this delegation, find ourselves in Sana'a today to honor one of this city's sons, a prominent Arab poet, a powerful thinker, and a cultural activist. Throughout his professional and scientific career he has made valuable contributions that have earned him great respect in the Arab world; his continuous giving has proved time and time again that Yemen is a land of creativity and originality, and one which is biased towards human progress and development.
My brothers and sisters, how much we would have liked for our dear poet, Abdul Aziz al-Maqaleh, to have been with us last month in Dubai when we honored a new elite group of Al Owais Foundation award winners - of which he was one. Although he was absent for the "legitimate" reason which we all know well - the promise he made to himself to never again leave the soil of his beloved Yemen - his presence among us during the awards ceremony was ever felt, through his reputation, his good name and his literary accomplishments. Yet, we, at the general secretariat, felt that we must honor him in his presence regardless of the distance we must travel ..because this is our foundation's pledge; to repay good deeds, to seek out those kind souls and to go to them wherever they may be when circumstances prevent them from coming to us. We do not consider this a favor, not for one moment; rather it is our duty towards our creative and intellectual minds, those who light our lives as Arabs with their continuous giving. They deserve, indeed we owe them, our continuous gratitude. We owe them to remain in touch and to communicate with them; they deserve our respect and recognition for their efforts and accomplishments."
The Secretary-General went on to add: "It is with great pleasure that the Arab cultural arena welcomed the news of Al Maqaleh being among the winners of this session. I am personally delighted because this is the second time that this country is honored after the great Yemeni poet Abdullah Al Baradouni received this same award in the 3rd session. We are full of hope that the future will witness more winners commensurate with Yemen's contribution to Arab culture and its development. We also hope that Yemeni cultural institutions, as well as writers and authors, will contribute by nominating Yemeni poets, authors, and intellectuals they believe to be worthy of such recognition."
In conclusion, Abdul Hamid Ahmed said: "We congratulate Dr. Abdel Aziz al-Maqaleh on receiving this award and we wish him continued good health and wellness, continued giving, and continued literary and intellectual excellence; this dignified representative from Yemen and a shining beacon in the Arab cultural horizon."
In his turn, poet Abdul Aziz al-Maqaleh commented in his speech during the ceremony: "I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation, its management, staff, colleagues, and distinguished members of the jury who have honored me with such a prestigious award which I value because it entails an appreciation of my efforts and my poetry, as it has appreciated and honored all my estimated colleagues before me.
Perhaps such cultural initiatives carry in their essence an appreciation for poetry itself; the art of poetry which is considered the first Arab art. It is as if the status of poetry as represented in such initiatives takes us back to the forefront of Arab culture when poetry played a leading role in serving the causes of our nation and our communities. This appreciation which I receive today is a gift to Yemen; this country which lives in me as I live in it; this country which nourished me, and to whose mountains, valleys, and villages I whispered my words; and whose events brought me to maturity. It is from this country that I launched into the wider Arab horizon, a horizon I am proud to have in my poetry and my prose, indeed in my whole intellectual life. This award is also a gift to my family who bore my absence and my pre-occupation with my poetry. This is an opportunity to express to my appreciation and gratitude. But I can honestly say that I would not have done them justice for all that they have done for me over the years. It would not be an exaggeration for me to allocate half the value of this award to my family, while allocating the second half to my second family of Yemeni poets and authors who are ascending the ladder of creativity; and in appreciation of this country, its people and its youth, there will be an annual award for poetry, novel and short story, the regulations, mechanisms and details of which will be sorted out at a later stage."
Mr. Abdul Ilah Abdul Qader read the jury's final report for the 11th session, after which the Secretary-General of the Al Owais Foundation presented the poet Abdul Aziz Al Maqaleh with the shield, the certificate of honor, gold medal, and Al Owais Award scarf.
The ceremony included a documentary about the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation, as well as a small exhibition of the foundation's recent publications.