The number of poems sent in for entry in the sixth annual poetry competition held by the London wireless broadcasting station reached thirty-one.
Most of them were distinguished by fineness of style, delicacy of feeling, and strength of poetic gift, which demanded a great effort of the panel of judges before it issued its final verdict on the three winning poems.
But after three successive meetings, each of which lasted a long while, the panel of judges — composed of Messrs. Sheikh Khalil Takieddine, the well-known writer and man of letters; Bechara
al-Khoury, the great poet known as al-Akhtal al-Saghir; Dr. Nicolas Fayyad, the poet and orator; Najib Liyan, the delicate poet; and Muhyi al-Din al-Nsouli, the famous journalist — issued its verdict and announced the names of the winners of the three prizes, as appears in its following statement:
The panel of judges in the London station's poetry competition held three successive sessions, in which the poems received were read; from them it selected the following poems and ranked them according to the prizes:
The poem winning the first prize: "The Nightingale," by Mr. Amin
Nakhle — Beirut. The poem winning the second prize: "The Arab League," by Mr. Alexi Saad, of the American University of Beirut.
The poem winning the third prize: "The Peasant's Hope," by Mr. Abdullah Ghanem, Baskinta, Lebanon. In witness whereof, drawn up on March 18, 1946. Khalil Takieddine Muhyi al-Din al-Nsouli Najib Liyan Bechara al-Khoury Nicolas Fayyad
The prizes will be presented to the winners at the appointed time, and the first winning poem will be sent to London for the final competition among the poems received from all the Arab lands and the Mahjar.
Before noon on Sunday, Child Welfare in Tripoli held a literary party in aid of its charitable project. Its president, the notable Mrs. Aliya Shawqi, and the members of the association supervised the reception of the guests at the Empire Cinema, assisted by their honorable husbands.
The party opened with the national anthem, which the people heard standing. Then Mr. Husni Atiyya rose and delivered, in the association's name, a statement of its works and its aims, recounting the number of pupils whom the association is rearing in the kindergarten it has founded; his word was met with applause of approval.
The popular poet Mr. Omar al-Za'ni was then presented to the audience, and with his troupe he sang three pieces of his own composition, which cast over the party an atmosphere of patriotic fervor that kept flooding it to the very end.
Mr. Gebran Tueni delivered an address on child welfare and on the arduous task the ladies have taken upon themselves to carry out. He said that we are in need of raising a generation of patriotic Lebanese who will fight sectarianism in politics and work on the basis that religion belongs to God and the homeland to all.
The poet al-Za'ni returned to occupy the platform — a delightful occupation indeed — and sang three excellent pieces that were interrupted by applause.
He was followed by Mr. Mahmoud Salah al-Din, member of the Egyptian mission at the College of Education in Tripoli, who recited a patriotic, educational poem in which he described what he had seen in the kindergarten and the hopes the Arabs pin upon it; it was interrupted by applause of approval.
The poet al-Za'ni closed the party
with pieces in which he portrayed our social life most eloquently.
The audience departed thanking the association for its organizing of this "light-blooded" party, and wishing it continued success in its task.
The women of Britain will be up in arms when they learn that the women of foreign countries have worn the new British fashions before them. Yet this shows the extent of the fame which British fashions have attained, and their triumph over the competition of other fashions.
The credit for this success goes to the fashion designers in Britain, for they refused exaggeration in making their designs, which thus came out supremely elegant, suiting all tastes in the whole world. Everyone who saw this exhibition admired the fashions displayed, which testify to the soundness of British taste in the designing of dress.