Believing in the power of art and culture in positively contributing to society, the Sawiris Cultural Awards Competition was established in 2005 to recognize excellence in the literary works of Egyptian emerging and established writers in the fields of novels and short stories. Over the past 16 years, the competition has grown to include more genres such as screenplays to support the development and growth of the Egyptian film industry, and play-writing to help playwrights get their work into the theater world. This is in addition to the best literature critique work, which was added in 2013.

In 2020 Sawiris Foundation launched translation award to promote contemporary literary excellence and introduce young creative writers to readers outside the borders of the Arab region. In addition to the literary award’s cash prize, the first-place winning novel for emerging writers will be translated to English language.

Since its initiation, the award contributed significantly to the enrichment of cultural life in Egypt, and has occupied a prominent position among Arab and local awards. The number of applicants for the Sawiris Cultural Awards has increased from 267 in 2005 to 1010 applicants as of 2022.

The foundation presents awards of cash and recognition plaques to winners in the categories of novels, collections of short stories, screenplays, play-writing, non-fiction and . The competition goes through a lengthy process that starts in mid June and ends in January. The winning submissions are selected by an independent judging committee consisting of well-known writers and literary experts. The winners are announced in a big ceremony held at the Cairo Opera House in January of each year. You can follow us on Facebook.