Opening El-Merbad poetic festival in Iraq

More than 350 Iraqi, Arab and foreign poets and writers are participating in El-Merbad's 15th poetic festival, which commences today in the cities of Baghdad and Basra in Iraq.

The under secretary of the Ministry of Culture said that sessions to discuss 16 cultural and research presentations will be held on the margin of the festival, under the tittle "11 centuries of modern Arab poetry - the Arab poem and its conversion."

He said the festival's continuation through 15 sessions for almost three decades assures that the nation's poets, researchers and authors will remain its clear voice with innovation and creation to the bright future of this nation.