The winners of the Sawiris Cultural Awards 2017 were announced on Monday night at a ceremony at the Main Hall of Egypt's Cairo Opera House, attracting many Egyptian celebrities and the most famous names on the Egyptian cultural scene. The 1,300-seat hall, which served as venue for the awards for the first time, was packed with attendees, who sat for three hours straight waiting for the award-winners to be announced. Among the winners of this year, was novelist and journalist Youssef Rakha, who won Best Novel for his book Paulo, and Mohammed Abdel-Naby, who won Best Novel of an Emerging Writer for his work In the Spider's Room. Launched 13 years ago with an endowment from business tycoons Samih and Naguib Sawiris, the Sawiris Cultural Awards have become one of Egypt's most prestigious cultural awards, helping many young emerging writers and enthralling the careers of established writers. This year, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development – the parent foundation of the awards – mourned the loss of Shams El-Etreby, a member of its board of trustees and the founder of the Cultural Awards. Egypt's Minister of culture, asserted the importance of such cultural and artistic foundations to sustainable development, saying that the Sawiris Foundation was one of the earliest initiatives to realize this. The ceremony was hosted by renowned Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmi, the guest of honour on the night. The Sawiris Cultural Awards are awarded to novelists, short-story writers, script writers and playwrights. Below is a full list of this year's winners. 1.) Best Novel of an Established Writer Youssef Rakha, for his novel Paulo, published by Dar Tanweer Saad Abdel-Fattah, for his novel Oushb (Herb), published by Kotob Khan. 2.) Best Short-Story Collection of an Established Writer Said Nouh, for his short-story collection Koshl Al-Awaram (The Kiosk of Tumors), published by Batana Publishing house. Samar Nour, for her short-story collection Fi Bayt Masas Al-Dima' (In the Home of the Vampire), published by General Egyptian Book Organization. 3.) Best Novel of an Emerging Writer First Award split between: Ali Sayed, for his Novel Ontha Mowazia (A Parallell Female), published by General Egyptian Book Organization. Mohamed Abdel-Naby, for his novel Fi Ghorfat Al-Enkabout (In the Spider's Room), published by Al-Ain publishing house. Second Award split between: Ahmed Shawqy Ali, for his novel Hekayat El-Hosn wal Hozn (Tales of Beauty and Sadness), published by Dar Al-Adab. Mina Hany, for his novel Maqam Gheyabek (The Place of your Absence), published by Rawafed Publishing house. 4.) Best Short-Story Collection of an Emerging Writer: First Award split between: Amir Zaki, for his collection Khat Intihar (Suicide Line), published by Kotob Khan. Mohammed Alaaddin, for his collection Mawsem El-Hijra li Arcadia (Season of Immigrating to Aracadia), published by Merit. Second Award split between: Marc Amgad, for his collection Nashid AlGeneral (The Anthem of the General), published by Al-Thaqafa Al-Jadidia. Sherine Fathy, for her collection Al-Batala La Yageb an Takoon Badeena (The Star shouldn't be Fat), published by Dar Kalima. 5.) Best Scenario by an Established Writer Islam Azizi, for Anha (About her). 6.) Best Scenario by an Emerging Writer Rasha Ezzat, for Akher Al-Mahican (The Last of the Mahican). 7.) Best Playwright First Award: Eissa Gamal, for El-Din Asaa Al-Akhira min Hayat Al-Colonel (The Last Hour of the Colonel's Life). Second Award: Tamer Abdel-Hamid, for Kan Ya Manikan (Once Upon a Time O Manikin). Yasmin Imam, for Farda Wahida Tatsi' Lele Gamee' (One Pair of Shoes Fits All). 8.) Literary Criticism Mahmoud Ahmed Abdullah, for his book AlMowatan fil Rewaya El-Masreya: Edwar El-Kharrat (Citizenship in the Egyptian novel: Edwar El-Kharrat as an Example), published by General Egyptian Book Organization. Reda Attiya Eskandar, for his book Al'Ais Fil Sard (Living in Narration), General Egyptian Book Organization.
