Ahmed al-Mulla

Ahmed Mohammed al-Mulla (born 1961) is a Saudi poet, writer, and film critic, considered one of the pioneers of cinema in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He took part in founding and managing the Saudi Film Festival in 2008 and was appointed as the head of the National Film Archive Initiative in 2019. He is also the founder and director of the House of Poetry Festival and the vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Cinema Association.

Ahmed al-Mulla obtained a Bachelor’s degree in the Department of Arts from King Saud University in 1982. He worked in cultural journalism between 1993 and 2003 and held the position of administrative director and board member of the Eastern Province Literary Club from 2005 to 2010. He also served on the panel of arbitrators for several national theater and film competitions. Additionally, the Ministry of Culture and Media (formerly) assigned him to select poetry texts for the book Selections from Saudi Literature, published in 2011.

Ahmed al-Mulla has published numerous literary works in both poetry and prose, including: "Shadows Crumbling" in 1995, "Light and Inclined Like a Cassian" in 1997, "An Arrow Whispering My Name" in 2005, and "Exercises of the Monster" in 2010.

In 2022, Ahmed al-Mulla was appointed director of the "Poetry Bridges" Project, launched by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture "Ithra" as part of the national initiative "Ithra Content Initiative." This project represents the first major effort to translate contemporary Saudi poetry into French, in collaboration with the French publisher "Les Presses du Réel" within its series Al Dente, which specializes in modern poetry to publish four poetry collections alongside an anthology featuring works by forty-three Saudi male and female poets.