THE WINNER of the American University in Cairo's 10th Naguib Mahfouz Award was announced at a ceremony held on 11 December. Youssef Abu Raya (b 1955) received the award for his novel Laylat 'Urs (Wedding Night; Cairo: Al-Hilal, 2002), an English translation of which is to be published by AUC Press in 2006. The jury for this year's award were AUC professor of Arabic studies Samia Mehrez, Ain Shams University professor of French literature Hoda Wasfi, Cairo University professor of Arabic literature Abdel-Moneim Tallima, distinguished literary critic Ibrahim Fathi, and AUC Press Director Mark Linz. From left: Linz, AUC President David Arnold, Abu Raya and Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni photo: Sherif Sonbol
