CAIRO: The American University in Cairo (AUC) Press will announce the winner of the 2006 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature on Dec. 11, 2006, in AUC’s Oriental Hall. The award will be presented by Mr. David Arnold, president of the American University in Cairo.
The Mahfouz Medal is awarded every year by a distinguished panel of judges, and consists of a silver medal, a cash prize of $1,000 (LE 5,740), and an English translation and publication by the AUC Press in Cairo, London, and New York.
This year’s panel of judges for the Mahfouz Medal consists of Ibrahim Fathy, Samia Mehrez, Fakhri Saleh, Abdel Moneim Tallima, and Hoda Wasfy, as well as Werner Mark Linz, the director of the AUC Press, which sponsors the Mahfouz Medal.
Naguib Mahfouz, who passed away in August 2006, would have been 95 on Dec. 11 this year. In welcoming the award when it was inaugurated in 1996, he said, “The announcement of this award honoring writers and literature of the Arab world is the most pleasurable event on my birthday.
The medal is awarded on the basis of literary excellence of the work as agreed to by the judges. The award committee meets in early summer to establish a shortlist of nominees and in the fall the judges make a final decision prior to the award ceremony in December.
Anyone can nominate a novel, including the authors themselves. Only published Arabic novels that have not already been translated into English are considered.
AUC Press has been active in promoting Arab authors to English readers. “Equally important, we immediately began to find other authors we wanted to translate. Since 1985, we have published or have currently in translation about 100 titles, that means [Naguib] Mahfouz plus another 60 or so writers, explained press director Linz in an earlier interview with The Daily Star Egypt.
The Naguib Mahfouz Medal in Literature, awarded annually by AUC Press, is case in point. They encourage as many writers as possible to submit their work for consideration.
“We want to [publish] classic modern writers, like from Taha Hussein to now. And we want to have newcomers, new voices, younger writers, more women than were published in the past, all those good things, Linz added.
Linz was quick to point out that AUC has reached a new milestone, having recently published its 100th work of Arabic literature in translation, a 20-year effort. “It started with Mahfouz, Linz recently told The Daily Star Egypt, “and now includes 60 other [Arabic] authors.
Recipients of the Mahfouz Medal from 1996 to 2006
The Mahfouz Medal has been awarded to works by established authors, recent works in the field, pioneering text as well as works of the avant-garde from the entire Arab world. To date, the Mahfouz Medal has been awarded to Ibrahim Abdel Meguid, “The Other Place (Al-Balad Al-Ukhra), and the late Latifa Al-Zayyat, “The Open Door (Al-Bab Al-Maftouh), in 1996; Mourid Barghouti, “I Saw Ramallah (Ra’aytu Ramallah) and the late Yusuf Idris, “City of Love and Ashes (Qissat Hubb), in 1997; Ahlam Mostaghanemi, “Memory in the Flesh (Dhakirat Al-Jasad) in 1998, Edwar Al-Kharrat, “Rama and the Dragon (Rama wa-l-tinnin) in 1999; Hoda Barakat, “The Tiller of Waters (Harith Al-Miyah) in 2000; Somaya Ramadan, “Leaves of Narcissus (Awraq al-Narjis) in 2001; Bensalem Himmich, “The Polymath (Al-‘Allama) in 2002; Khairy Shalaby, “The Lodging House (Wikalat Atiya) in 2003, Aliya Mamdouh, “The Loved Ones (Al-Mahboubat) in 2004; and Yusuf Abu Raya, “The Wedding Night (Laylet ‘urs) in 2005. A total of 12 recipients – five women, seven men; seven Egyptians (two posthumously), one Palestinian, one Algerian, one Iraqi, and one Moroccan have been awarded the prize.
