Asharq Al-Awsat's Columnist Amal Moussa Wins Int’l Catullo Award for Poetry

Tunisia Minister of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Amal Belhadji Moussa
Tunisia Minister of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Amal Belhadji Moussa
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Asharq Al-Awsat's Columnist Amal Moussa Wins Int’l Catullo Award for Poetry

Tunisia Minister of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Amal Belhadji Moussa
Tunisia Minister of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Amal Belhadji Moussa

The Tunisian poet and writer, Amal Belhadj Moussa, won the Catillo International Prize for Poetry 2022, granted by the World Poetry Academy.

The World Poetry Academy was established in June 2001 in Italy with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The jury indicated that it wanted to crown the sentiment and thought described in the poetic experience of the poet.

It also indicated that it chose Moussa from among international candidates to present a certificate of appreciation for the beautiful, thriving contemporary female poetry in the Arab countries and a tribute to the poet.

Amal Moussa is considered a symbolic figure among the few Arab female creators to be published in Italy.

Moussa currently holds the position of Minister of Family, Women, Children, and the Elderly, in Tunisia.

She has six collections of poetry, which have been translated into Italian, French, Turkish, English, and Spanish.

Her collections include Female of Water (1996), Emerald's Bashfulness (1998), Like Me the Stars Sparkle (2010, Rainy Body (2010), Life Has Not Put Its Makeup Yet (2017), In Love, and Don't Look into the River (2021).

The Minister received many awards, namely the first prize for the best Arab production on women's issues from the Arab Women's Organization in 2006, the Zubaida Bashir award for the best Literary Production in 2018, and several honors in many Tunisian poetry festivals, and various Arab countries, Europe, and the US.

Moussa is an academic and a weekly columnist in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. She has written publications in sociology, political Islam, youth and religiosity, and the sociology of daily life.



Wildfires Force Evacuation of Visitors and Staff at 2 National Parks in US West

This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)
This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)
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Wildfires Force Evacuation of Visitors and Staff at 2 National Parks in US West

This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)
This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows smoke from wildfires in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in Colorado on Thursday, July 10, 2025, after high temperatures, very low humidity, gusty winds, and very dry vegetation across the region led to extreme fire danger. (NPS via AP)

Visitors and staff at two national parks in the US West have been evacuated because of wildfires.

Gunnison National Park, about 260 miles (418 kilometers) southwest of Denver, closed Thursday morning after lighting sparked blazes on both the North Rim and South Rim of the Black Canyon, the park said.

The wildfire has burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers), with no containment of the perimeter.

The conditions there have been ripe for wildfire with hot temperatures, low humidity, gusty winds and dry vegetation, the park said, adding that weather will remain a concern Friday.

The Grand Canyon's North Rim in Arizona also closed Thursday because of a wildfire on adjacent Bureau of Land Management land near Jacob Lake. The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said it helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake and campers in the Kaibab National Forest nearby.

The fire began Wednesday evening after a thunderstorm moved through the area, fire officials said. It has burned about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) with zero containment.