Invited by Kubrick Bookshop to be their guest of the month, Sayed Gouda read some of his poems in Arabic, Chinese and English. A group of HK poets participated in the reading and the Chinese audience expressed their appreciation of Arabic poetry and the rhythm of the Arabic language. The session had a lot of discussions followed the questions posed by the audience to Gouda about his poems. One of the questions addressed to Gouda was whether he was a philosopher, 'any poet must be a philosopher,' affirmed Gouda, 'philosophy here is not the Western or Eastern philosophy but it is a way of life, it is the poet's views towards the different issues of life,' he concluded.

     This invitation comes as the first in its own kind that a bookshop in HK invites an Arab poet to share his poems with the Chinese audience. While it is known as a city of trade and inhabited mainly by businessmen and bank men who form the Arab minorities in HK, the voice of Arabic poetry is heard only in sessions like these which no doubt strengthen the bonds of culture among different civilizations.

       At the end, Gouda thanked Miss Polly, the session MC, the bookshop, and the audience saying that poetry is the most important tool to communicate with other nations, and that the poet carries in his society the same role that the prophets did in the ancient societies. Gouda referred to the ancient Greeks who raised some poets to the ranks of gods for they regarded poetry as a sacred art.

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