Sixth Cultural Prize Ceremony

Published On Mon, Feb 01, 2016

The ceremony began with a short speech from the Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Ambassador Mohamed Ibrahim Shaker who welcomed the attendees and congratulated the Award winners affirming that the Foundation is keen on organizing this Award on an annual basis, now on its sixth round, to motivate Egyptian writers for more creativity and to encourage the emergence of new talents. Ambassador Shaker extended his sincere thanks and appreciation to the members of the Award’s Board of trustees for their priceless time and voluntary efforts, stressing that the Board of Trustees of Sawiris foundation does not interfere at all in their work.

On behalf of the Award’s Board of Trustees, Board member Dr. Mohamed Abul-Ghar gave an expressive presentation that reviewed the history of the Egyptian novel and the contributions of Egyptian writers over centuries starting from the time of Refaha Rafea El-Tahtawi till today, where the involvement of civil society organizations becomes apparent, assuming a new role in supporting literature, art and creativity. In conclusion, Dr. Abul-Ghar, thanked his colleagues in the Board of Trustees of the Award who voluntarily oversee the award in all its affairs from establishing the selection criteria of the judges till organizing the celebration.

This year's competition received 417 entries in the categories of novels, collections of short stories, screenplays and playwriting.

The Winners

BEST NOVEL

First Place, Senior Writer – Ahmad Sabri Abu Fotouh for "Epic Al-Sraswa". First Place, Young Writers – Tahar Mohamed Hussein El Sharkawy for "Vanilla".​ Second Place, Young Writers – shared equally between Mohamed Mahmoud Ahmed Maarouf for his novel "Cleopatra Ship" and Manal Mahmoud Moussa for "Ghona El-Magazeeb".

BEST COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES

First Place, Senior Writer – Mahmoud Mustafa EL-Wardani "El-Hafl El-Sabahi” (The morning ceremony). First Place, Young Writers – Mohammed Abdel Nabi Mohammed Gomaa "The Specter of Anton Chekhov". Second Place, Young Writers – equally between Mohammed Kheir for the "Demons of the Radio" and Ahmed Abdel Rahman Hamdan "The mission".

BEST SCREENPLAY

First Place, Senior Writer – shared equally between the scriptwriter Maher Awad for "until stocks last", and scriptwriter Mohamed Kamel Al Ayoubi for the film script "Game of the mirrors- on the banks of the Cities". First Place, Young Writer – Amr Taha EL-Shamy for screenplay "Long live the Duce".

BEST PLAYWRITING

First Place – shared equally between the writer, Mohamed Ali Mursi for the play "Al-Hajaj Comedy" and the writer Osama Noureddine for his play "Thebes Prophecy".

The Jury

The jury of the novel and short stories for Senior authors consisted of: Ibrahim Aslan, Abou El-Maati Abu al-Naja, Helmi Alnmnm, Ezzat Qamhawi, Dr. Haitham Al Haj Ali."

The Jury of the novel and short stories for Young Authors consisted of "Ambassador Shoukry Fouad, Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid, Dr. Amal Abou El Fadl , Dr. Sahar EL-Mougy, Dr. Said EL-WAkeel."

For best screenplay, the jury included "Ali Abu Shadi, Bashir El-Deek, Ahmed Yousef, Yahia Azmi and Kamal Ramzy."

In the Branch of Young Screenwriters, the jury was composed of "Dr. Samir Seif, Raouf Tawfik, Salah Marei, Khaireya EL-Bishlawi and Essam Zakaria."

The jury for best Playwriting, included "Mohamed Salmawy, Dr.. Nihad Saliha, Dr. Ahmed Sakhsukh, Dr. Hany Motawea and Dr. Mostafa Riad."