Submission Guidelines:
Proposals of approximately 300 words (in Arabic or English), accompanied by a short bio (100 words), to be submitted to borfali(at)gmail.com and hudafakhr(at)gmail.com by October 15 , 2025 . Proposals will be evaluated by the conference’s academic committee, and applicants will be notified of acceptance shortly after the deadline.
- Presentations should be 20 minutes in length and may be delivered in English or Arabic.
- Travel and Accommodation: The conference will cover round-trip airfare to Beirut and local accommodation for all accepted participants.
- Publication: Selected papers will be considered for publication in the Sheikh Zayed Series for Arabic and Islamic Studies, published by AUB Press.
For questions or further information, please contact borfali(at)gmail.com and hudafakhr(at)gmail.com.
The Sheikh Zayed Chair for Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut invites scholars to an international conference exploring the works and legacy of Aḥmad Shawqī (1868–1932)—the Egyptian poet, playwright, and cultural icon whose contributions helped shape Arabic literary modernity and its dialogue with the Arabic Literary tradition. Crowned Amīr al-Shuʿarāʾ (“Prince of Poets”) in 1927, Shawqī produced an expansive corpus that bridges classical poetics and modern expression across genres as diverse as lyric poetry, panegyric, verse drama, political satire, poetry for children, and song.
This conference invites critical engagement with the full spectrum of Shawqi’s literary, cultural, and musical contributions, including his afterlives in Arab and global contexts. We welcome papers that explore Shawqi’s work through literary, historical, comparative, and interdisciplinary approaches. Submissions may be in Arabic or English, and we particularly encourage contributions that reflect on Shawqi’s legacy in poetry, music, and performance, as well as his role in shaping the aesthetics and politics of Arabic letters in the Nahda and beyond.
Key Themes May Include:
- Public Poetics and Classical Form: Shawqi’s adaptation of classical Arabic forms ( qaṣīda , madīḥ , rithāʾ , muwaššaḥ ) to address contemporary political events, communal identity, and ceremonial occasions; his role as court poet and cultural intermediary; his navigation between tradition and innovation.
- The Polemics and Politics of the Qasidah: Shawqi’s political career, his relationship with power, his activism and exile, and his anti-colonial stance—especially as expressed through poetic form and language.
- Arabic Verse Drama: Shawqi’s groundbreaking contributions to Arabic poetic theater—his tragedies and comedies; formal structure and aesthetic strategies; classical and European influences (e.g., Racine, Corneille, Shakespeare); and the cultural impact of his dramatic works.
- Shawqi and Music: The intersection of poetry and music in Shawqi’s corpus; collaborations with composers such as Mohammed Abdel Wahab; performance and reception of Shawqi’s poems as song; his influence on Arabic musical and lyrical heritage.
- Comparative and Global Reception: Readings of Shawqi alongside literary figures within and beyond the Arab world; Shawqi in translation; transnational circulations of his works; parallels with national poets and dramatists of other traditions (e.g., Tagore, Yeats, Hugo).
- Critical Reception and Afterlives: Shawqi’s reception during his lifetime and in subsequent generations; his role in literary criticism, education, publishing, and public memory; assessments of his legacy in modern and contemporary Arabic literature.