By Shahd Kamal
KUWAIT, Feb 17 (KUNA) -- The 29th Qurain Cultural Festival honored Dr. Khalifa Al-Woqian - a celebrated Kuwaiti poet and a co-founder of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), in recognition of his literary contributions to the Kuwaiti cultural movement.
Dr. Al-Woqian spoke about his literary and poetic journey at a symposium organized by NCCAL to honor him at the Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait on Saturday evening in collaboration with Al-Manar Center.
He thanked the organizers of the festival for selecting him as personality of this year's edition of the event.
On his part, NCCAL Secretary-General Dr. Mohammad Al-Jassar said the Council is proud of its annual tradition of honoring literary trailblazers such as Dr. Al-Woqian who had outstanding contributions to the cultural movement in Kuwait and the Arab world.
"NCCAL is keen on handing down the trailblazing experiments of veteran literary celebrities to the younger generation to instigate the progress of the cultural movement," Dr. Al-Jassar said in statements to KUNA.
Dr. Salem Khaddadeh, professor of Arabic literature, said in similar statements to KUNA, that Dr. Al-Woqian, an old friend of him, deserved the honoring for the numerous poetic and literary collections he has authored over the past 40 years.
Born in Kuwait City, on October 10, 1941, Dr. Al-Woqian got his BA in Arabic from Kuwait University in 1970, MA in Arabic poetry in 1974, and PhD from Egypt's Ain Shams University in 1980.
Opened on Sunday, February 11, at Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Center under auspices of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the 29th Qurain Cultural Festival lasts until February 22. (pickup previous) shd.hss.gb