Melancholy-inspired Al-Maqaleh celebrated [Archives:2005/902/Culture]
Prof. Abdulaziz al-Maqaleh was celebrated on Thursday Dec 8, 2005, to mark the publication of his poetic anthology. The ceremony was marked on a Thursday morning's function at the Sana'a-based Culture House. The event, attended by a host of Yemeni writers, poets, pressmen and officials, was intended to celebrate the latest issue of “Book in Newspaper” which is dedicated solely to the anthology from al-Maqaleh's poetic works. “Al-Maqaleh is Yemen's cultural gateway,” said Khaled Al-Rowaishan, minister of culture. “He is Sana'a's brilliance and poetic luminosity and has engraved his name in Yemenis' minds and hearts.”
Two young poets recited excerpts from Al-Maqleh's poetry. Renown Fuad Al-Mahnabi and Sa'eed al-Shadadi alternately pleased the audience with selected poems from Dr. Al-Maqleh's collection of verse to the accompaniment of enchanting music played by Abdul-Basit Al-Harithi and Abdulaziz Mukrid.
The ceremony was attended by the minister of culture and tourism and the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Thawra Daily newspaper Ali Najee Al-Ra'wi. The latter presented the memorial of “A Book in Newspaper” to the poet along with a bouquet of flowers in recognition of his contribution to Yemen's literary life and his bringing it from the restricted local sphere to the realm of spacious internationalism.
All Yemenis are unanimous regarding the priceless contribution of Al-Maqaleh. He is held in respect both by his peers and the members of the succeeding generation.
In a preface to one of his collections, Al-Maqaleh is remembered to have said that he is “inspired by melancholy”. He is not just a writer, thinker, critic or poet, but he is also a revolutionist who felt sad over the atrocities of the ousted Imamate monarchy.
“I wrote a number of revolutionary poems. I was appalled to find my friends get away from me”, he said in the preface. “Even the closest people to me, I saw them brandish their sharp daggers in my face. I saw them prepare a grave to bury me in expatriation”. He furnishes the reason that they were afraid of the revolution, which would, when passing, pass over their heads. He continues saying that “Finally, I tried to desert speech. I traveled into silence but] silence serpents eat into my tongue and the eye almost could not see and I returned to speech” about melancholy for it is was his “teacher willy-nilly”.
In this issue of “Book in Newspaper,” the poems include “Invocations,” “Light Mirrors,” and “My Homeland”. The book contains paintings by Tunisian artist Ahmed Al-Hajri in harmony with the poetic subject. Al-Maqaleh is a prolific writer who authored literary books such as “Yemen Folk Poetry”, “Voices from the Modern Time,” “The Crisis of the New Poem,” and “Poets from Yemen”, in addition to a several poetry collections such as “Marib Speaks”, “A Message to Saif bin Thi Yazan” and “The Return of Wadhah al-Yemen”. He contributed to the establishment of Sana'a University and was its rector for a long period before he moved to be the director of the Yemen Center for Research and Studies.
It is noteworthy that “A Book in Newspaper” project got started late 90s. It is a monthly publication featuring a selected portion of a particular Arab writer, both ancient and contemporary. The late Zaid Muttee Dammaj, Yemen's foremost novelist, was the first Yemeni writer to contribute in this project. His well-known novel “The hostage” was published in “A Book in Newspaper” in 1998. To this project do many Arab dailies subscribe such as Al-Thawra in Yemen. Whenever the monthly book is ready, it is printed and attached to each daily for free. The project covers different genres such as poetry, story, novel, etc. So far, creative works of many Arab men and women of letters have found their way to publication under this project from across the Arab World. The project is sponsored by the UNESCO and the MPI Foundation.
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