The Cultural Village Foundation-Katara announced that it has received a total of 1,105 poems participating in the 7th Katara Prize for Prophet's Poets.
There was a 22 percent increase from the erstwhile edition which reached 861 submissions, including 1,015 poems by males, while 90 were by females. In classical poetry, 982 poems were submitted, with 897 by males and 85 by females. In the Nabati poetry category, 123 poems were submitted, 118 by males and 5 by females.
Egypt, Sudan, and Somalia had the highest number of submissions, totaling 347, followed by the Levant and Iraq with 255, and the Maghreb countries with 247, with the Gulf countries snagging the fourth rank with 224 submissions, while 32 submissions came from non-Arab countries.
The Gulf countries also recorded the highest participation in the Nabati poetry category with 90 submissions and 134 in classical poetry.
The prize follows several stages, by shortlisting 30 competitors, 15 each in classical and Nabati poetry to compete in three rounds before a final jury committee, which will choose five participants from each category accordingly to advance to the semifinals, with the contest concluding with the selection of three winners from each category.
