Minister honours  4th University Poet competition winners

HE the Minister of Culture Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Thani has honoured the winners of the 4th University Poet competition, held on May 11-20.The competition was organised by the Ministry of Culture, represented by the Qatar Poetry Centre (Diwan Al Arab) in collaboration with Qatar University along with civil and military universities and colleges.The ceremony was held at Qatar University in the presence of university officials, academics, and students.In the category of eloquent poetry, Mohamed Aflaj from Mauritania won the first place, then Hamad Salem al-Rashdi from Qatar (at second place), and Adel Mohamed Abdel Hameed from Pakistan in third place, all from Qatar University.In the Nabati poetry category, Saeed Ali al-Afeer from the Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College won first place, followed by Hamad Jaber al-Jarhab in second place and Mohamed Saleh al-Nabit in third. The latter two are from Qatar University. All the winners in this category are Qatari.In a speech during the ceremony, poet and Diwan Al Arab director Shabib bin Arar al-Nuaimi stressed the centre’s keenness on making poetry an expression of morals and values, such as courage and chastity.He noted that since its inception, the competition has adopted an ethical code to disseminate these values and ethics through the cultural and social spheres.The honoured poets thanked the support for their creative talents from the Qatar Poetry Centre, adding that the competition serves as a catalyst for them to continue on their creative and artistic paths. – QNA