The Higher Committee of the ‘Kanz al Jeel’ Award held a meeting to select the jury and launch the screening process for the award. The first round received 234 entries from 20 countries around the world. Launched by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, the award honours Nabati poetic works and its history. The entries for the award are now closed.

Chaired by Issa Saif Al Mazrouei, Vice Chairman of the Cultural and Heritage Programmes and Festivals Management Committee in Abu Dhabi, Chairman of the Higher Committee for ‘Kanz al Jeel’ Award, the meeting was attended by members of the committee including: HE Abdullah Majed Al-Ali; Saeed Hamdan Al-Tunaiji, Acting Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, and Director of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair; Academic Researcher Dr. Munira Al-Ghadeer; Bahraini Critic Dr. Diaa Al-Kaabi; Jordanian Academic Researcher Dr. Khalil Al-Sheikh as Rapporteur; and Maryam Al Dhaheri, Director of the ‘Kanz al Jeel’ Award.

The committee selected the judges of the first round of screening and announced that the judging and evaluation process for the participating works in six branches namely "Studies and Research", "Poetic Publications", "Poetic Matching", "Arts", "Translation", and "Creative Personality", is well underway.

Issa Saif Al-Mazrouei stressed that the proceedings of the first cycle of the ‘Kanz al Jeel’ Award are on track, being managed and evaluated by the judging committees that include intellectual, literary, and academic members with expertise and knowledge in all areas of the award. The selected judges have objective insights, enabling us to achieve the strategic objectives of the award, which is to enhance the status of Nabati poetry and honour distinguished poetic experiences, publish them and promote their creators. Our objectives also include consolidating the poetry of the Prophet and the vision of late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and its aesthetic and human values of Emirati and Arab consciousness. These elements contribute to strengthening the identity of the future generations by raising awareness about traditional poetry, culture and heritage.

The AED 1.5 million award received nominations from all over the world with the "Studies and Research" category receiving the highest number of entries at 37%.  "Poetry Publications" category received 23%, while the "Poetic Processing" category received 19%, "Arts" 10%, "Translation" 4%, and "Creative Personality" 6%.

It is worth mentioning that the ‘Kanz al Jeel’ Award is inspired by the poems of the UAE’s founding father Sheikh Zayed who believed in the importance of poetry as a mirror to society and an embodiment of Emirati and Arab consciousness.