Organizers Announce ‘Emerging Writer’ Shortlists for 2020 Sawiris Cultural Awards

Yesterday, organizers announced the shortlists for the 16th annual Sawiris Cultural Awards in the categories of emerging novel, short story, and scenario:

The awards, launched with an endowment from business tycoons Samih and Naguib Sawiris, are Egypt’s most highly anticipated literary awards, and are given out in eight categories.

Yesterday, Ahram Online reported, awards organizers “announced the shortlists for the emerging writers in each category but did not announce the shortlist for the established writers’ division.”

The list of emerging writers includes a number of familiar names, including several books chosen for the inaugural “Arab Voices” project, which recommends new books in Arabic for international translation. An excerpt of Donia Kamal’s Random Arrangements has appeared on ArabLit.

ArabLit Quarterly also ran a short story by the shortlisted Amgad ElSabban, “Tale of the Resurrected Brother and the Metamorphosed Mother,” translated by Mona Khedr.

Winners of the Sawiris Prize are expected to be announced at a ceremony at the Cairo Opera House in January 2021.

The shortlisted novels and short-story collections in the emerging writers categories are:

Novels (Emerging Writers)

بياصة الشوام (Bayaset Al-Shawam) by Ahmed El-Fakharany

ما تبقي من الشمس (What Is Left of the Sun) by Ahmed El-Morsi

ترتيبات عشوائية (Random Arrangements) by Donia Kamal

أحمر ﻻرنج (Bitter Orange) by Charles Akl

أطياف كاميليا (Specters of Camelia) by Nora Nagi

Short Stories (Emerging Writers)

لصوص النوم (Sleep Thieves) by Amgad El-Sabban

كأن تنقصه الحكاية (As If the Story Were Missing) by Gilan Shamsy

خطط طويلة الأجل (Long-term Plans) by Mohamed Farag

تقرير عن الرفاعية (A Report on the Rifa’i) by Mohamed El-Fouly