On Monday night, one of the glitteriest and most well-respected awards of the Egyptian literature season announced its winners. Among the Sawiris Cultural Prize awardees are Youssef Rakha’s Paulo and Mohammad Abdelnaby’s In the Spider’s Room, which is set to appear this fall in Jonathan Wright’s translation:
The ceremony, held at the Cairo Opera House, was hosted by popular Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmi.
Most of the book-title translations are taken from Ahram Online:
Best Novel by an Established Author
Youssef Rakha’s Paulo. Rakha’s two previous novels — Sultan’s Seal (translated by Paul Starkey) and Crocodiles (translated by Robin Moger) are available in translation. You can read an excerpt of Paulo, in Moger’s translation, online.
Saad Abdel-Fattah’s Grass.
Best Short-story Collection by an Established Author
Said Noah’s Kiosk of Tumors.
Samar Nour’s In the Vampire’s House.
Best Novel by an Emerging Writer
The first prize was split between two novels. They were:
Ali Sayed’s A Parallel Woman
Mohamed Abdel-Naby’s In the Spider’s Room, forthcoming this fall in Jonathan Wright’s excellent translation.
Second prize was also split between two novels:
Ahmed Shawqy Ali’s Tales of Beauty and Sadness
Mina Hany’s The Place of Your Absence.
Best Short-story Collection by an Emerging Writer
First prize was split between two winners. They were:
Amir Zaki’s Suicide Line.
Mohammed Aladdin’s The Season of Migration to Arkadia. You can read the collection’s title story, in Humphrey Davies’ excellent translation, online.
The second prize was split between:
Marc Amgad’s Anthem of the General
Sherine Fathy’s The Star Shouldn’t Be Fat
Best Scenario by an Established Writer
Islam Azizi’s About Her
Best Scenario by an Emerging Writer
Rasha Ezzat’s The Last of the Mohicans
Best Playwright
First prize went to Eissa Gamal, for The Last Hour of the Colonel’s Life, while second went to Tamer Abdel-Hamid, for Once Upon a Time, O Manikin and Yasmin Imam, for One Pair of Shoes Fits All.
