Madar (Nouakchott) - The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) has announced an honorary award for Mauritanian poet Sidi Mohamed Mohamed El Mehdi in the second edition of its 'Cities of Poems' competition, Sahara Medias reported on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
This edition was dedicated to the Uzbek city of Samarkand, capital of culture in the Islamic world for 2025. The Mauritanian poet was among seven poets given honorary awards alongside the top three winners.
The jury received 600 poems, of which 174 were selected for judging, according to ICESCO. The competition aims to celebrate cities and civilisations through poetry and document their history and cultural memory.
