KUWAIT CITY, Aug 9, (KUNA): Kuwait National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi congratulated famous Kuwait Poet Sheikha Saud Al-Sabah, for wining South Korean Manhae Award for distinguished literary works for 2012.

In a cable sent to her, Al-Kharafi greeted Sheikha Saud on the achievement and wining the prestigious international award.

Al-Kharafi also wished her further success and prominence.

This award is the top honoring for literary works in South Korea. It has been granted annually by the Asian Journalists Association since 1979 in the name of Manhae, a poet and writer who devoted his life to promotion of ideal thoughts, reforms and wisdom.

Sheikha Saud has gained wide-scale popularity among intellectual quarters due to her accomplishments and works, namely the publishing of a long chain of poetic works and her efforts for encouraging poets and writers, such as granting awards in the name of Dar Saud Al-Sabah publishing house.

Further praise has been heaped upon the prominent Kuwaiti poetess Sheikha Saud Al-Sabah, with a leading arts’ figure hoping her recent earning of Manhae award will lead to more international honoring of her literary accomplishments and her crowning with the world’s top prize, Noble.

Chairman of the Kuwaiti Formative Arts Society Abdul Rasoul Salman affirmed in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that Sheikha Saud was granted the Manhae Award in appreciation for her literary and poetic works throughout 50 years.

Sheikha Saud has a long record of much humanitarian, literary and cultural contributions, such as her sponsorship of contests in formative arts, poetry and novels, in addition to her personal interest in literary and artistic education for the youth and children, he said.

Elaborating in his remarks to KUNA, Salman said he was proud of Sheikha Saud for earning the award, noting that this record achievement would stimulate the new generation of Arab literary writers and artists to try leap to the international arenas.

This honoring paves the way for Sheikha Saud to win more international awards, such as the Noble Prize, he said, noting that she is entitled for such higher level of honoring due to her rich works throughout 50 years.

The Asian Journalists Association is due to hold a ceremony for honoring the renowned Kuwaiti poetess with the Manhae Award for 2012, next Sunday, in the southern South Korean town of Inje. The award is granted by the Society for the Promotion and Practice of Manhae’s Thoughts, which announced last March, winners of the 2012 Manhae Prize, given in three different categories. Sheikha Saud won the award in literature.

The winning announcement mentioned that Dr Saud Al Sabah “helped in fostering the woman position in the Arab world, as she has been devoted to poetry writing since 1961, with more than 15 volumes of poetry published, and she also assured the importance of having scientific assistance, through her studies, and gave the Arab youths the chances to promote their literary works.” Asked about Sheikha Saud’s support for formative arts, Salman said the poet is very much involved, in some aspects, in this type of arts, manifested in her literary works.

Elaborating on his personal experience with Sheikha Saud in this regard, he recalled that she had hurriedly agreed to allocate a special award for formative artists, however, she favored to involve artists from other Gulf countries in a contest for this award.

This contest, named the Gulf Creativity Award, was held in its third session earlier this year, with participation of more than 80 artists from the Gulf.

He also mentioned that Sheikha Saud would adopt a new award for children in the GCC countries.
Sheikha Saud has issued 15 divans. The first one was “Min Omri (From My Life), published in 1963. The last one was titled, “Letters from the Beautiful Time,” printed by Saud Al-Sabah Publishing House in 2006.

The eminent poetess and writer had delved into patriotic issues, with the release of her book, “Allow me to Love my Country,” issued in 1990, in addition to her historic publications, such as “Falcon of the Gulf ... Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah,” published in 1995.

Sheikha Saud is writer of a long chain of articles and researches, addressing issues concerning Muslim and Gulf women, such as an article themed “Women Workers in the Gulf,” a research about Kuwaiti female workers and another about role of women in development in the Arab and Islamic countries.
Her poetic works have been translated into English, French, Spanish, Italian and German. Crux of her writings has been basic freedoms of the human race, as well as eliminating barriers of discrimination between the two genders. Moreover, she is credited for being among the ardent female strugglers who succeeded in attaining political franchise for the Kuwaiti women.

In appreciation of her robust stance in support of Arab human rights, she was granted membership number-one by the Arab Human Rights Organization. In 1995, she was chosen as representative of the United Nations at the International Woman Conference in Beijing. She was one of five figures that were chosen as honorary guests — including the first ladies of the United States and France.

Sheikha Saud heads Abdullah Mubarak Al-Sabah Charity, founded in 1992.