The winners with HE Dr al-Kuwari, Sheikh Dr Khalid al-Thani, Whitehill and competition organisers.
Vodafone Qatar hosted an awards ceremony yesterday for the winners of its second literary competition, under the auspices of HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari.
The competition had as its title the verse “I treated you with honesty, guidance and integrity”, which comes from a poem by Qatar’s founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani.
The contest was launched on December 14 last year in line with the theme of the Qatar National Day celebrations.
HE the Minister, Vodafone Qatar chairman Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani al-Thani and CEO Kyle Whitehill handed over trophies and certificates to the winners in addition to appreciation mementos to those who ensured that the initiative achieved resounding success.
In the story collection category, first-place winner Alaa Abdelmonem Ibrahim received QR50,000, second-place winner Usama Abdelfatah al-Shazly QR30,000 and third-place winner Shamaa Shaheen al-Kuwari got QR20,000.
In the short story category, first-place winner Hajaj Ramadan Nassar received QR20,000, second-place winner Mohamed Saif El Dawla QR15,000 and third-place winner Ahmed Ibrahim Abualala got QR10,000.
The ceremony also witnessed a performance by award-winning sand-drawing artist Shaima al-Mughairy and recitation of a poem by writer Mohamed Yacoub al-Yousef, inspired by the competition’s title.
Vodafone Qatar external affairs director Mohamed al-Yami said the literary competition has grown to become a successful means to preserve the Arabic language and encourage creative writing, which are important threads of Arab culture and tradition.
“In addition, it is very meaningful that this competition, which annually coincides with our beloved country’s national day, is giving both citizens and residents a means to express their love for this great nation.”
“We’re very proud of the response and praise this initiative has gained from both Qatar’s literary experts and the public, which motivates us to grow this competition bigger and better each year.”
Al-Yami also thanked HE Dr al-Kuwari, congratulated the winners and thanked all participants, judges and everybody who worked on making the competition a success.
Vodafone Qatar received more than 120 submissions for the competition, which were subsequently assessed by an independent panel of judges, headed by Dr Fatima al-Suwaidi, who is also assistant dean of Outreach & Engagement, College of Arts & Sciences, Qatar University.
The winning submissions will be posted on Vodafone’s website and social media.
