Syrian writer Zakaria Tamer and Palestinian director Hani Abu Asaad have won the Mahmoud Darwish Award for Creativity.

The chairman of the Mahmoud Darwish Foundation said, while announcing the winners at a ceremony held at Mahmoud Darwish Museum in Ramallah, that the Palestinian director Hani Abu Asaad had focused his creative project on the values of freedom and justice for Palestine.

He added that Syrian writer Zakaria Tamer was granted the prize for his writings that merge the aesthetics of narration and his courage in defending human dignity.

Late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, one of the most prestigious Arab and Palestinian poets of the 20th century, died in August 2008 after heart surgery in the United States. The Palestinian government decided to take his birthday on 13 March a day of Palestinian National Culture.

The Mahmoud Darwish award panel is headed by the Palestinian critic Faisal Darrag, and includes a number of notable Arab writers and critics.

The Mahmoud Darwish Foundation was established upon a Presidential decree issued in Ramallah on October 4, 2008. It is a Palestinian non-profit foundation established in recognition of Darwish's esteemed status within the Palestinian national movement as well as his inspirational influence on the Palestinian, regional and international literary scenes.