Moroccan writer and critic Abdelfattah Kilito received, on Monday in Riyadh, the King Faisal Prize for Arabic language and literature, during the award ceremony for the winners of the 45th edition of this prize, chaired by Prince Faisal Ben Bandar Ben Abdulaziz Al Saud, governor of the Riyadh region.
The Secretary General of the King Faisal Prize, Abdelaziz Al-Sabil, said that Kilito, a professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, dealt with aspects of the ancient Arab narrative that no one had ever paid attention to, and this in a style marked by creativity.
He added that Kilito searched for pearls in the writings of early philosophers and narrators, and that he was one of the eminent Arab critics of the modern era, pointing out that his book “Literature and Strangeness” highlighted his distinction and his uniqueness in applying modern critical approaches to ancient Arabic literature.
Al-Sabil continued that “Professor Kilito’s ingenuity emerged in interpreting various Arabic narrative works through extensive study and in presenting the Arabic narrative to the average reader in a clear and precise manner.”
Subsequently, a video was shown on the Moroccan novelist and critic, holder of a doctorate from the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, on the theme “The sessions, stories and cultural codes at Al-Hamadhani and Al-Hariri”, in 1982.
Abdelfattah Kilito has worked as a professor at Mohammed V University and as a visiting professor at several universities, including Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, Princeton University and Harvard University.
In a speech for the occasion, the Moroccan novelist expressed his gratitude for the prize, which, according to him, would be an incentive to continue the work, recalling with deep emotion the teachers of different nationalities who marked his career and his cultural project.
The prize secretariat has announced the winners of the 45th edition. The award for service to Islam was thus awarded jointly to Korean Choi Young Kil and Emirati Sheikh Nasser Abdullah Al Zaâbi.
The prize for Islamic Studies was awarded to the British Robert Hillenbrand, while the Moroccan Abdelfattah Kilito received the prize for Arabic language and literature.
As for the medicine prize, it went jointly to the American Dan Hung Barouch and the Briton Sarah Catherine Gilbert, while the science prize was won jointly by Jackie Yi-Ru Ying and Chad Alexander Mirkin, both UNITED STATES.
The King Faisal Prize was first awarded in 1979. More than 290 scholars from 45 countries have won it. Several winners of this award have gone on to win prestigious international awards.