The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), has announced that the ‘Kanz Al Jeel’ award’s Higher Committee is set to welcome new members ahead of its second edition, including renowned intellectual, literary, and academic figures.

The award aims to celebrate and honour Nabati poetry works that embody the authentic heritage surrounding this artform. The award’s Higher Committee consists of five members with extensive expertise and notable qualifications in the award’s categories, in addition to a rapporteur. Their tasks include general oversight of the award’s operations, outlining policies to enable it to achieve its goals and objectives, and conducting its affairs. The Committee held its first meeting virtually to discuss the progress made on the award’s second edition and the role of the Higher Committee.

The new committee includes three new members and a rapporteur: Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Ali Saeed Al Kaabi from the UAE, Chancellor at the United Arab Emirates University and Professor of Education Policy and Comparative Pedagogy; Prof. Dr. Aisha Al Shamsi, Emirati academic, critic, and poet; Hassan Zaki, Egyptian composer, artist, and researcher; and Abdulrahman Mohamed Al-Naqbi from the UAE, Director of the Literary Awards Department at the ALC, Rapporteur of the Committee, along with current members H.E. Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji from the UAE, Executive Director of the ALC, and Saudi academic and researcher in Nabati women’s poetry, Dr. Munira Al Ghadeer.

Dr. Ali Saeed Al Kaabi thanked the previous higher committee and all its members, who have a track record and notable experience in their respective fields, for the essential role they played in setting the award on the right track in its first edition, wishing them continued success and progress. “The current Higher Committee of the ‘Kanz Al Jeel’ award is committed to maintaining the momentum of success and building on the achievements that have been made so far to ensure the award continues to move forward, in accordance with scientific and objective standards,” he said. “The new members will work to strengthen the award’s accomplishments and enhance the contribution of Nabati poetry to the local and Arab cultural scene, in a way that protects Emirati heritage and passes it down to future generations.”

Dr. Ali Saeed Al Kaabi served as Secretary General of UAE University and Deputy Director for Student Affairs and Registration. Prior to that, he was Acting Dean, Vice Dean of the College of Education, and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Alumni Support between 2009 and 2015. Dr. Al Kaabi is a faculty member in the Department of Fundamentals of Education at the college since 2005, and has also served as General Coordinator of the UNESCO-Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers from 2009 to 2015. He chaired the Advisory Board of the Regional Centre for Educational Development and served as a member of the Arabic Language Advisory Council, the National Committee for Culture and Education, and the Government Council of ‘Knowledge for All’ (IFAP), affiliated with UNESCO. He is the author of several scientific publications and articles, and has participated in scientific and educational conferences and seminars, in the UAE and abroad.

Meanwhile, Dr. Aisha Al Shamsi holds a PhD in Modern Literature and Criticism and serves as Associate Dean at the Higher Colleges of Technology. Her books include ‘The Psychology of Poetic Image’ and ‘Emirati Poetry in Light of Environmental Literary Criticism’, in addition to three poetry collections. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Academic Women Award and of the International Future Schools, as well as a member of the Emirates Writers Union, International Federation of the Arabic Language, and the International Council for the Arabic Language. Dr. Al Shamsi has published numerous research papers in several peer-reviewed journals and international conferences.

For his part, Hassan Zaki created melodies for many stars of the Arab world. He wrote and scored the documentary film series ‘Passing’, composed music for more than 20 theatrical performances, and represented Egypt several times in European festivals. In the field of fine arts, he held many individual exhibitions and participated in the Cairo International Forum for Arabic Calligraphy in its first, third, and fourth edition. Zaki received a five-year sabbatical grant from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to work on a project to take Arabic calligraphy beyond its traditional forms and designs, and bringing it closer to the designs of abstract art.  He is a member of the Egyptian Writers Union and has three published collections, as well as several literary publications and research books, earning a range of awards in the fields of music, fine art, and literature. Furthermore, Zaki served as member of the Technical Committee at the Cairo International Book Fair for four consecutive sessions.

Also on the Committee is Prof. Dr. Munira Al Ghadeer, who has held a series of academic positions at prestigious universities, the latest of which is Chair Professor in Arabic Literature and Literary Theory at Harvard University. She was also a visiting professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University, and before that, an Associate Professor in the Department of African Languages and Literatures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US. Dr. Al Ghadeer has been invited to deliver 40 lectures, chaired sessions and presented academic papers at 50 international conferences. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from the University of California – Berkeley in the US, and authored, among other prominent books, ‘Voices of the Desert: Poetry of Bedouin Women in Saudi Arabia’, which is considered one of the most notable research studies in the field of comparative literature, literary theory, and translation studies. Dr. Al Ghadeer’s research focuses on demonstrating the diversity of literature and culture in the Gulf region. She has published several studies and contributed to the translation and publication of Nabati and contemporary Saudi poetry in many peer-reviewed periodicals.

For his part, H.E. Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji held the position of Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre since 2021, bringing extensive experience in managing book and publishing industry initiatives at the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, where he managed creative content for publishing important series of books, including under the Kalima Project for Translation, and the ‘Esdarat’ series that publishes. Furthermore, he held the position of Director of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. H.E. Al Tunaiji assumed several administrative positions, including Director of Media and Public Relations at DCT - Abu Dhabi. He began his career as a journalist and worked in several Emirati newspapers, writing op-eds in cultural sections of various journals, and publishing several books, such as: ‘From and to the Depths of the Homeland’, ‘Mosaic’, and ‘Her Majesty’s Mistakes’.

Lastly, Abdulrahman Mohamed Al-Naqbi has held the position of Director of the Literary Awards Department at the ALC since November 2022, and prior to that, served in multiple administrative roles. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. He is an opinion writer for the Emirati newspaper Al-Roeya and a publisher of book reviews in several Emirati news platforms, with an interest in reading and lecturing about the subject and spreading the culture of reading in society.

The ‘Kanz Al Jeel’ award is inspired by the poems of the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to promote poetry as a mirror of society, and the place that the poetry of Sheikh Zayed occupies in the Emirati and Arab conscience. It includes six categories: Studies and Research, Poetic Publications, Poetry Match, Arts, Translation, and Creative Personality. Potential candidates for the award can submit applications for candidacy until 1 June 2023 on the website: kanzaljeel.ae