Secretary of the first round of the award, Abdolmehdi Mostakin, said the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO has organized the first round of the prize to honor the Persian poet, as well as to return to the sources of the Persian language and revive the valuable and privileged position of Nezami Ganjavi in Iranian culture and literature, IRNA reported.
Nezami Ganjavi was a 12th-century Persian poet. He is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. His heritage is also widely appreciated and shared by Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan.
Mostakin explained that this award has been scheduled in seven fields of literature, research works on Nezami, calligraphy, painting, performing arts, popular culture, and music.
Mostakin, who is also the director of the culture department of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, said the winners of this event will be introduced in a ceremony to be attended by literary, cultural and artistic figures at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on March 10.
“After the Persian poet Ferdowsi, Nezami’s role in protecting the treasure of the Persian language and literature is well-known. A treasury of words, unique illustrations, a collection of poems and his eternal wisdom, as shown in the ‘Five Treasures’, all of these have protected the linguistic and identity borders of Iranians for centuries,” he said.