Omani poetess, Aisha al Saifi qualified for the finals of Prince of Poets, a Arab reality television poetry competition on the Emirati television network Abu Dhabi TV.
Al Saifi, the first Omani to reach the finals, topped the ninth round for her poem “Questions of the Night’s Ceiling” among her five competitors from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Senegal.
The winner gets one million dirhams (RO 100,000) and a symbolic cloak and ring in the finals, which will be held on Wednesday.
Reflecting the pre-eminence of poetry in the Arab world, the programme's ratings overtook those of football and of other reality television programmes, with a studio audience of thousands and a television audience of millions. Its title comes from the epithet of Arabic-language epic poet Ahmed Shawqi.
Thousands of aspiring poets from all over the Arab world submit their poems, and several dozen are chosen to compete. In the competition, contestants read their poems, and are also asked to improvise poems on various subjects. A jury of established poets and critics judges and offers feedback on the entries, while the studio audience and viewers at home can also vote for their preferred poets. Despite the show's title, the contestants can be male or female.
Al Saifi qualified for the final stage with the public’s vote for her poem "The villager gets wet with her mud,” where the poetess returns to Nizwa where she was born after 20 years in Muscat. In the poem, she recollects her time spent in her father's orchard and details life in the village.
In 'Questions of the Night's Ceiling' the poetess discusses philosophy of existence and nature.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
