Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed attends third edition of ‘Desert Stanzas'

Dubai, UAE; March 7, 2015: Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), attended the third edition of the Desert Stanzas.

The event was organised by Dubai Culture and Emirates Airline Festival of Literature (LitFest) 2015 to highlight the beauty of poetry, at an inspiring event held under the desert sky.  

‘Desert Stanzas’ each year brings world-class poetry, atmospheric music by oud players, and unprecedented Emirati hospitality for a mesmerising evening of poetry and traditional entertainment.

Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: “Desert Stanzas is a celebration of the Emirati heritage and our literary tradition of story-telling handed down generations through poetic verses. By bringing together the world’s leading literary talent for an engaging evening of poetry, we are highlighting the true cultural soul and identity of Dubai and providing our visitors a rare insight into our rich literary legacy, particularly that of Nabati poetry, which continues to thrive under the patronage of my father, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.”

Featuring poetry recitations by some of UAE’s and the world’s foremost poets, this year’s ‘Desert Stanzas’ included appearances by Saif Al-Saadi, Mourid Barghouti, Imtiaz Dharker, Yang Lian,  Víctor Rodríguez Núñez, Owen Sheers and Lemn Sissay.

A popular Emirati poet, Saif Al-Saadi is the host of the Mithaq literary salon (majlis) and editor of Jawaher magazine, which covers arts and literature in the Gulf. Saif’s love of poetry began in childhood and culminated in his becoming a distinguished poet in a special style of Nabati poetry.

Palestinian award-winning poet and author Mourid Barghouti is best-known for his two memoirs I Saw Ramallah and its follow-up I Was Born There, I Was Born Here.  At Desert Stanzas, Mourid read from two his collections: A Small Sun and Midnight.

Imtiaz Dharker is a poet, artist and documentary film-maker. With many collections of poetry to her name, and her poetry long-established on the English GCSE syllabus, she is a recipient of the Cholmondeley Award and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her latest collection is Over the Moon.

Additionally, guests were treated to an inspirational story from a local speaker who narrated how the local residents used to depend on stars to travel from one place to another. Visitors also had the chance to dress up in traditional Emirati attire and capture the fun at a dedicated photo corner.