The Cavafy Award is an honor presented to creative writers from Egypt and Greece in the fields of poetry, short stories, and literary criticism.
First awarded in 1990, the prize was established to foster cultural relations between Egypt and Greece. Notable recipients include Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who received the award on his 92nd birthday, as well as Farouk Shousha, Sayyid Hijab, Ibrahim Aslan, Radwa Ashour, Sahar El Mougy, and Bahaa Taher.
The award is named after the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy, who was born in and lived in Alexandria, Egypt until his death.
History
In 1983, unique cultural celebrations were held for the first time in the cities of Alexandria and Cairo, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy, the poet of Alexandria. These events, known as "Cavafyia," were aimed at developing cultural relations between Greece and Egypt by highlighting the works of this Greek poet who lived in Alexandria from birth until his death and created all his works in the city he adored. The idea was supported by the Greek Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri, and originated with Panayotis Vassilopoulos, the Greek Consul in Alexandria at the time. These celebrations quickly became one of the most important cultural events in Egypt.
Award winners +Cavafy Award winnersYearCountryWinnerRef.1989 EgyptAhmed Abdel Moati Hijazi1991 EgyptFarouk Shousha2004 EgyptNaguib Mahfouz2013 Egypt UAEMaysoun Saqr (poet) and Mohamed El-Mansi Qandil (novelist)2017 EgyptFarouk Gouida (poet), Radwa Ashour (novelist), and Sahar El Mougy (novelist)2011 EgyptAmin Haddad, Ahdaf Soueif, and Bashir El-Sebaei2014 UAEMaysoun Al Qasimi2017 EgyptSonallah Ibrahim and Mohamed El-Shahawi (poet)2019 EgyptAhmed Bakheet (Poetry), Youssef Noufel (Literary Criticism), and E'tidal Othman (Prose)
References