Al Owais Award


The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards are a biennial prize for literary and cultural achievement in the Arab world. It is administered by the Sultan Bin Al Owais Cultural Foundation of the United Arab Emirates. The award was established by the late Emirati businessman and philanthropist Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais. The awards were first given out in 1988-89.
The Al Owais Cultural Awards are given in four categories: Poetry, Novels, Criticism/Literature Studies, and Human/Future Studies. Winners in each category receive a prize of for a total of making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. The prizes were previously worth $100,000 until increased in 2025. A fifth award called the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Award for Scientific and Cultural Achievement has different rules and criteria, with a prize amount of.
In 2004, the poetry prize was awarded to Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef but was withdrawn after he criticized Emirati ruler Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
WWW alowais.com/en/awards

Winners

List of winners:

1988–1989

1990–1991

  • Stories, Novels & Drama: Alfred Farag, Abdul Rahman Munif
  • Criticism & Literature Studies: Ehssan Abbas
  • Human & Future Studies: Zaki Nageeb Mahmood, Fuad Zacharia
  • Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Mohammad Mahdi Al Jawaheri

1992–1993

1994–1995

1996–1997

1998–1999

2000–2001

2002–2003

2004–2005

  • Poetry: Muhammad al-Maghut
  • Stories, Novels & Drama: Iz Aldin Al Madani
  • Criticism & Literature Studies: Mohammed Meftah
  • Human & Future Studies: Antoon Zahlan
  • Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Tharwat Okasha

2006–2007

2008–2009

2010–2011

2012–2013

2014–2015

2016–2017

2018–2019

2020–2021

  • Poetry: Elias Lahoud
  • Stories, Novels & Drama: Nabil Suleiman
  • Criticism & Literature Studies: Abdul Malik Murtad
  • Human & Future Studies: Ahmed Zayed
  • Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Assilah Forum Foundation

2022–2023