Shawqi Bzeih – LEBANON
Shawqi Bzeih is a contemporary Lebanese poet born in southern Lebanon. He has published dozens of books in poetry and prose, as well as critical, literary, cultural, and intellectual articles. His poems are in the Lebanese colloquial and classical Arabic. He won the Okaz Poet Prize in 2010 and the Al Owais Cultural Prize in 2015. He also won the Palestine Medal in 2017 and Distinguished Honor award in the Mahmoud Darwish Prize for Culture and Creativity in 2020. He previously worked in the fields of teaching and media, including newspapers, government and private radio stations, and television programs.