Poets from Five Countries Take Part in Shamim-e-Fatemi Poetry Festival in Mashhad

DID Press: The second edition of the Shamim-e-Fatemi poetry mourning festival is being held in Mashhad, Iran, near the holy shrine of Imam Reza, with the participation of poets from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran. More than 100 works by 52 poets have been submitted to the event’s secretariat.

Jafar Seyedabadi, director-general of the Department of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan Province, said the festival had expanded in its second edition from a provincial event into a programme involving poets from several countries.

According to Seyedabadi, submissions have come from poets in 23 provinces of Iran and four other countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the Republic of Azerbaijan.He said this year’s call for submissions focused on two themes: the virtues of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her), and the Ramadan Sacred Defence and the Martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

Seyedabadi also announced the publication of a collection featuring selected works from the festival’s first edition, saying copies would be distributed among participants.He highlighted the role of such cultural programmes in strengthening social and cultural ties among Muslim nations.

The second Shamim-e-Fatemi poetry mourning festival is being held with the participation of religious poets and a number of national and provincial officials near the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.Organisers and participants say the involvement of poets from five countries demonstrates the potential of religious poetry and literature to promote cross-border cultural exchanges and reinforce shared cultural and religious ties among peoples of the region.