The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) announces the launch of the second edition of the annual poetry award “Cities of Poems,” dedicated this year to the city of Samarkand, Republic of Uzbekistan, in celebration of its designation as a 2025 Culture Capital in the Islamic World.

The annual contest, which coincides with ICESCO’s announcement of the Culture Capital in the Islamic World, aims to revive and strengthen the age-old connection between poetry and place: an enduring relationship that has inspired many immortal works in Arabic and global poetry. It also seeks to document, through poetic and aesthetic expression, the history and geography of cities, and to honor the figures and civilizations celebrated by the Capitals of Culture in the Islamic World through poetry.

Poetic submissions, in either Arabic or Uzbek, will be accepted starting Friday, 1st August 2025, and ending on Wednesday, 31st December 2025. A panel of experts from ICESCO, together with a host of distinguished poets, will evaluate the submitted poems to select three winners. The first-place winner will receive a USD 3,000 cash prize; the second-place winner will receive USD 2,000; and the third-place winner will receive USD 1,000. In addition, all winners will be awarded certificates of appreciation. ICESCO will also publish an anthology featuring the winning poems as well as other honorable mentions from the competition.

Eligibility criteria:

• Poems written in Arabic must adhere to classical Arabic poetic meters (either vertical or free verse), while Uzbek poems must comply with the metrical and aesthetic standards of Uzbek poetry.
• The poem must be inspired by the values, aesthetics, history, geography, genius loci (spirit of place), and narrative of the city that is the subject of the poem (Samarkand).
• The poem must not exceed thirty lines or poetic verses.

ICESCO invites all poets, male and female, from Islamic World countries and of all ages, to participate in the contest via the following link:
https://icesco.org/en/cities-of-poetry-competition/