Iran`s Fajr Intl. Poetry Festival wraps up

TEHRAN,Feb.21(MNA) -- The sixth edition of the Fajr International Poetry Festival wrapped up during a ceremony at the Vahdat Hall on Monday. At the ceremony, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke about the importance of poetry and the Persian language. Persian is the language of humanity and art, and poetry is the main supporter of art, Ahmadinejad mentioned during the event. He also talked about Rudaki as the father of Persian Poetry and Ferdwosi who “granted a culture, identity and ideals to the world via an epic.” Afterward the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini read a text about poetry and poets. The Deputy Minister of Culture for Poetry and Literature Yahya Talebian, the secretary of the festival Parviz Beigi Habibabadi, the Iranian Academy of Arts (IAA) Director Ali Mo’allem Damghani, and a group of Iranian and foreign poets also took part in the ceremony. Italian Persian language scholar Domenico Ingenito read a poem and Iranian poets Mohammad-Ali Bahmani and Fazel Nazari also read their poems at the festival. The winners of different sections of the festival received awards at the ceremony. Hassan Rushan won first prize in the classical poetry section. The second prize went to Reza Nikukar, and Shima Ahmadi was awarded third prize. No poets were selected for first and second prizes in the blank verse section, and Qorban Bahari and Seyyed Rasul Pireh shared third prize. In the section dedicated to children and young adults, the second prize went to Abbasali Sepahi Yunesi and third prize went to Fazel Torkaman. No one was announced as winner for first place. Amineh Daryanavard won the second prize and Yasser Qanbarlu was awarded with the third prize in the song category. No one was selected for first prize. A total of 1451 poets, mostly from Tehran Province, participated in the festival. The festival was free in theme and form, and all poets from all over the world were able to participate in the festival.