Damascus-Sana
In recognition of their intellectual efforts and their literary and artistic production, the Ministry of Culture today honored the winners of the State Prize for the current year, namely the writer Dr. Iskandar Luqa, the critic Dr. Wahb Roumieh, and the plastic artist Dr. Ihsan Entebbe.
For his part, Dr. Luke, who won the prize in the field of literature, said in a statement to SANA that this event “in principle” is a comprehensive tender meeting in which the rest of his colleagues participate, and that the award is not personal, but rather an appreciation for everyone who participated in the bid, whether in thought or art, expressing His happiness to be one of the award-winners in the field of thought and culture from 1950 until today.
Dr. Roumieh, who won the prize in the field of criticism, studies and translation, confirmed in turn that the award means to him that despite the circumstances it is going through, Syria still nurtures culture and creativity, and that the award is not a tribute to a person in his own right, but a tribute to everything that culture represents.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Luke is a writer, novelist and writer, born in the city of Alexandria in 1929. He began writing the short story at an early age. He obtained a doctorate degree with first honors from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon in 1975 and until the end of 2007 published forty-five books amongst collections of stories, plays and novels .. to him Contributions to writing for radio and television, and for newspapers and periodicals inside and outside Syria. He is one of the founders of the Arab Writers Union. He is also a member of the Union of Arab Journalists and Fine Artists.
Dr. Roumieh was born in Lattakia in 1944, he obtained a doctorate in ancient literature from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University in 1977 with first honors. He headed the Arabic Language Department at the University of Sana'a previously, and he is a professor of ancient literature at the University of Damascus .. Among his books is the journey in the pre-Islamic poem and the praise poem until the end of the era The Umayyad among the origins, revival and renewal. He also won the Kuwait Foundation Prize for the Advancement of Sciences in 2007 for his book Poetry and Criticism from Formation to Vision. He is a member of the Arabic Language Academy.
It is noteworthy that the State Appreciation Award was created by virtue of Legislative Decree No. 11 of 2012 in the field of literature and arts for creators, thinkers and artists, in recognition of their creative, intellectual and artistic endeavors, and it was won over nine sessions of twenty-seven intellectual and artistic personalities.
Rasha Mahfoud