Lebanese poet Charbel Dagher and professor at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Balamand, was awarded the Abu al Qasim al Chabi Prize جائزة أبو القاسم الشابي on November 23, during its 30th edition, held in Tunisia. Dagher received the award for his poetry collection "Yaghtasil al-Nathr fi Nahrih - يغتسل النثر في نهره" published by Dar Khutut wa Zilal دار خطوط وظلال للنشر والتوزيع.

The committee emphasized that the prize was awarded to Dagher “for his book’s originality, which differs from much of the prevailing trends in prose poetry, its poetic and intellectual structure, and its distinctive features”.

The jury for this year’s prize was chaired by Tunisian poet Monsef Al Wahaibi, and included members Shiraz Dardour, Wanasa Nasraoui, Hatem Fattnassi, and Omar Hafid. A total of 43 submissions were received from Tunisia and abroad, with the jury selecting 17 for the long list before narrowing it down to three contenders for the short list.

The Abu al Qasim al Chabi Prize, which was founded in 1984 by the Tunisian Bank, is awarded annually to outstanding works in different literary genres. The ceremony coincides with the anniversary of the death of the renowned Tunisian poet Abu al Qasim al Chabi.