U.S. Embassy celebrates local talent at 3rd Young Writers Open Mic Night

DOHA:  The U.S. Embassy, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, celebrated local talent at the third Young Writers Open Mic Night at the Education City Student Center.

During the event, participants enjoyed an evening of comedy, poetry, music and spoken word performance by students and members of the wider community.  Five performers took home the evening’s top prizes for their outstanding performances.

Five young writers were recognized for their performances

Headlining the event was the well-known comedian and influencer, Hamad Al-Amari, also known as “The Qatari Guy.” Mr. Al-Amari’s lively performance warmed up the audience and set the stage for the other amazing acts that followed, including Meddy.com founder and CMU-Q alumnus Abdulla AlKhenji’s breathtaking performance on the oud, and CMU-Q student Raghid Bsat’s beautiful Arabic poetry recitation.

CMU-Q computational biology student Raghid Bsat reading his Arabic-language poem

Open Mic Night has emerged as one of the U.S. Embassy’s most popular public events as a result of their Young Writers Program (YWP).  YWP, a partnership between the Embassy and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, seeks to inspire young people in Qatar to read, write and think critically about important topics in society while practicing their English language and critical thinking skills.  For the past five years, students from 135 ministry schools have participated in the Young Writers Program and its annual writing competition.

For more information about the Young Writers Program.