2015 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

From Riyadh to Damascus to Baghdad, the admiration for poetry spans ages and generations. When spoken, in its many unique forms, this literary expression can stir the hardest souls. And ARDHI (Land), from time immemorial, has been a subject of choice for Arabic poets. Because this land, and the treasures that it holds, makes its people who they are. The metres of rhythmical poetry are known in Arabic as buḥūr (seas). Which is why, this poetic manifesto uses the classical rhythmic structure of couplets. The syllables rise and fall like desert dunes, bringing together art and landscape with rousing grace.