Source : Presstv / 5 Feb 2013

The seventh edition of Fajr International Poetry Festival has kicked off in the Iranian southern island of Kharg located in the Persian Gulf.

A number of cultural officials and literary scholars attended the opening ceremony held in Kharg island today, February 5.

Over 2000 poets from Iran and 15 other countries have taken part in this year’s literary event to vie in six different sections, said the festival’s Secretary General Reza Hamidi.

Abbas Moshfeq Kashani, Mohammad Ali Mojahedi and Morteza Amiri are to serve at the jury panel of the newly assigned category titled ‘The Prophet of Islam’.

Mehdi Mohaqeq, Mir Jalal al-Din Kazazi and Hossein Razmjou were summoned to attend at the ‘Criticism and Research’ section.

The jury panel of the ‘Classic Poetry’ section is hosting Mohammad Ja’afar Yahaqi, Mohammad Reza Turki, Baha al-Din Khorramshahi, Khosro Ehteshami and Mohammad Kazem Kazemi.

Naser Keshavarz, Mostafa Rahmandoust and Erfan Nazar Ahari were named to judge at the ‘Children and Young Adult’ section.

Yadollah Maftoun Amini, Ali Mousavi Garmaroudi, Yousef Ali Mir Shakak and Mostafa Alipour are to impanel the jury of ‘Modern Poetry’ section while Ali Moallem, Ali Reza Qazveh and Rashid Kakavand are to serve at the ‘Songs’ section.

Iranian and International poets are also scheduled to recite their poems at the closing ceremony of the seventh edition of the festival.

The festival will run until February 26 on the island as well as the other cities of Tehran, Gorgan, Qazvin, Kerman, Hamedan, Ardebil, Mashhad and Shiraz.

Iran holds the international Fajr poetry, film, theater, visual arts and music festivals every year to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.