The curtain has fallen on the events of the second edition of the Arab Poetry Forum, held in the Austrian capital Vienna on April 16 and 17, 2026, organized by the Austrian Arab House for Culture and Arts, in partnership with the Austrian Arab Communication Forum and the Articulite Club for Culture and Arts, coordinated by poet Ali Al-Hassan.
With the participation of a select group of poets and intellectuals from various Arab and European countries.
Samira Joudi – Vienna
The forum’s events opened on the evening of Thursday, April 16, at the headquarters of the Austrian Arab House for Culture and Arts, with the presence of more than twenty poets representing Arab countries including Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, and Sudan, along with participants residing in Europe. The ceremony began
with a welcoming speech delivered by poet and coordinator Ali Al-Hassan, followed by speeches from writer Iyad Hassan, Secretary of the Arab House, Muhammad Azzam, President of the Austrian Arab House, and Adnan Abu Nasser, President of the Austrian Arab Communication Forum, along with Professor Maqbool Al-Rifai, the patron of this edition.
The first evening featured diverse poetry readings participated in by Haitham Bashbous (Iraq), Samira Joudi (Morocco), Najwa Ghanem (Palestine), Reem Al-Kasiri, Azzo Fattas, and Muhammad Khair Al-Halabi (Syria), amidst a notable audience presence and remarkable interaction, with the segments presented by poet Ali Al-Hassan, poetess Noor Al-Zaqat, and writer Iyad Hassan, accompanied by musical performances from artists Waked Al-Shoufi and Tarek Khadraoui.
The forum’s events continued on Friday, April 17, with a second poetry evening, presented by poetess Noor Al-Zaqat and forum coordinator Ali Al-Hassan, alongside Maqbool Al-Rifai and Adnan Abu Nasser. The evening began with readings from Syrian poet Bisan Faris (Denmark) and Algerian poet Ammar Meriash (France), who also recited a piece by Moroccan poet Jamal Boudauma, who was unable to attend due to health issues.
Poetry readings also included Palestinian Huda Dhiban, and Syrian Zain Shahada (Netherlands), in addition to several poets residing in Vienna, including Wiam Fattal, Tarek Hamdi, Talal Murtada, and Jan Babir, along with Dr. Ishraq Mustafa Hamid (Sudan). The readings concluded with a distinguished poetry reading by the guest of honor of the forum, Palestinian poet Abdullah Issa, coming from Russia.
The forum in its second edition formed an open cultural space for the convergence of Arab poetic experiences in exile, where the presented texts varied between classical and modern, and between vertical and prose, with texts presented in both Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial or spoken dialects, allowing the audience the opportunity to engage with multiple poetic visions reflecting the issues and existential and social concerns of the Arab individual. The events concluded with musical segments presented by artist Dr. Safaa Roumaya, accompanied by musicians Waked Al-Shoufi and Tarek Khadraoui, in a celebratory atmosphere that was well-received by the audience, adding a distinctive artistic dimension to the forum. This cultural event, in its second edition, confirms the continued presence of Arab poetry in international spaces, its ability to build bridges of communication and dialogue, and to enhance cultural exchange between peoples through word and creativity.