Honouring poetic voices through critical reading at the Omani Poetry Festival

Muscat, Dec 17
Poetry endures when it is approached through critical reflection rather than ceremonial praise. Within this spirit, the 13th Omani Poetry Festival, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, continues to reaffirm poetry’s place as a living intellectual and cultural practice.
As part of the festival’s programme, the second critical seminar, titled “Readings in the Poetic Experiences of the Honoured Poets in Classical Arabic Poetry”, was held at the Grand Millennium Muscat Hotel, bringing together poets, academics and literary researchers.
The seminar focused on a group of honoured poets, formally recognised by the festival in each edition for their literary contributions, with specialised research papers dedicated to examining and discussing their poetic works within an academic framework.
The first paper, presented by Professor Dr Issa al Sulaimani, offered an objective critical reading of the poetic experience of Salim al Kalbani, focusing on the concept of textual unity and the poet’s overall artistic vision. Al Sulaimani emphasised that a poem should be read as an integrated artistic whole rather than as isolated themes or individual lines.
The paper reviewed earlier critical studies of Al Kalbani’s poetry, noting that many focused on thematic or formal aspects without sufficiently engaging with the internal coherence and aesthetic structure of the poetic text. It presented Al Kalbani as a poet shaped by contemporary intellectual transformations while remaining rooted in the traditions of Classical Arabic poetry.
The second paper, presented by Dr Mohammed al Hajri, examined the poetic experience of Shaikh Abu Al Fadl Mohammed bin Issa al Harthy, portraying him as a poet whose work represented a meeting point for multiple poetic currents. Al Hajri described Al Harthy’s poetry as a “confluence of poetic valleys”, reflecting the diversity of themes, stylistic approaches and intellectual concerns in his verse.
The study highlighted Al Harthy’s cultural presence and his role in fostering poetic dialogue, identifying love poetry and wisdom as two dominant thematic strands in his work.
Through such critical seminars, the Omani Poetry Festival continues to honour distinguished poetic voices and deepen scholarly engagement with Oman’s literary heritage.