Golden Medal for the Silk Road Poet Awarded by V Eurasia Literary Festival of Festivals
Istanbul: Egyptian poet, novelist and journalist Ashraf Aboul-Yazid (Ashraf Dali) has been awarded the V Eurasian Literary Festival of Festivals’ gold medal for his “ active support of the creativity of poets and writers of the Eurasian continent within the framework of the Silk Road literary project, which united the creative potential of writers from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, for educational and creative activities to unite the peoples of Eurasia, for the creation of a series of works for children and adults about the peoples and history of the Silk Road, for the creation of an encyclopedia of the Silk Road, for the regular propaganda of the works of the best poets and writers of Eurasia through the publication of anthologies and other books”.
The Eurasia Literary Festival of Festivals, founded by the Russian poet Margarita Al in 2016, awarded its medal in the previous four sessions to poets from Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey. The coronation began with the poet Konstantin Kedyrov-Chelishchev (Russian Federation) in 2016, Olzhas Suleimenov (Republic of Kazakhstan) in 2017, Varis Yelchiev (Republic of Azerbaijan) in 2018, and Tugrul Tanyol (Republic of Turkey) in 2019, before resuming its activity after a halt caused by the epidemic that swept the world, to honor Ashraf Aboul-Yazid (The Arab Republic of Egypt) for the year 2021.
The organizers hope that the festival will follow the pattern; that each edition will be hosted by a new city in a different country. The sessions were held in Moscow, Sochi, Baku and Istanbul. The Egyptian poet hoped that the next edition would be held in Cairo 2022, to be a major cultural event in the Egyptian capital. He said that the Silk Road project will launch its first edition as a festival in parallel with the Eurasian Festival, and the next issue of its anthology will be published during the international event.
This session had added a living picture book project organized by the poet Margarita Al, and the poet Eldar Akhadov. Akhadov communicated with world poets to present a video heritage of almost two hundred poets from 69 countries. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid’s poem (A Street in Cairo), brought Eldar Akhadov’s comment:
“Ashraf’s brilliant poem about the street of Cairo has deep wisdom about human life, death, and war, about memory and love. He has become a real favorite of the contest. For the first time, the festival management saw in you a contender for an absolute victory. The name of the winner of the Fifth Festival of Festivals will become known to the whole world, he will be awarded a gold medal made of real gold. In the modern world, most gold medals are made of cheap metals, but our Eurasia medal lives up to its name, it is made of real gold, as in the days of the kings of Egypt. The winner will receive a free edition of his book in the Golden Series.
The festival also received congratulatory messages from the world’s leading poets, including the coordinator of the World Poetry Movement, Fernando Rendón
The festival was inaugurated on Thursday morning, November 11, 2021, with a press conference on (the Eurasian Literary Festival LIFFT-2021), in the presence of the dignitaries, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, the Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples Association Smirnova Svetlana Konstantinovna, and the director of the International Literary Movement LIFFT- 2015-2035 “We are the people of the same planet”; Margarita Al , Chairman of the Turkish İLESAM Organization of the Commonwealth of Authors of Scientific and Literary Works Mehmet Nuri Parmaksiz, People’s Writer of Azerbaijan Anar Rasuloğlu, People’s Writer of Kazakhstan Olzhas Suleimenov, Russian People’s Poet Konstantin Kedyrov-Chelishchev, Laureate of the 4th Eurasian Literary Festival LIFFT-2019, Poet Tugrul Tanyol, laureate of the 3rd Eurasian Literary Festival LIFFT-2018, and writer Varis Yelchiev, personality of the 2nd Eurasian Literary Festival and writer Ali Megaranzandi.
More than a round table discussed “The Image of the Future Man and the Future Man in World Literature”, and” the role of Turkish poetry in modern world literature and on the importance of Turkish literature in world literature.
At the closing ceremony of the festival guests and participants of the LiFFT Festival were invited to the red carpet and photo session. With an official ceremony to honor the winner of the Eurasian Literary Festival of Festivals “LiFFT-2021” and announcing the country in which the next sixth festival will be held in 2022, with the congratulations and review of the guests and participants in the festival during the closing ceremony.
After the closing ceremony, the organizers and guests were given visits to Istanbul, both its historical landmarks, such as Hagia Sophia, and tourist attractions, such as the Bosporus to Uskander, as well as tours of classical and contemporary art exhibitions and galleries.
