Tuesday 21/October/2025 – 12:56 AM
Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Minister of Culture, extended his sincere congratulations to the great writer and playwright Mohamed Salmawi, on the occasion of his selection as “Cultural Personality of the Year” for the forty-fourth session of the Sharjah International Book Fair 2025, which was announced by the Sharjah Book Authority, in appreciation of his literary career spanning more than five decades, and his rich contributions to theatre, novels, and Arab cultural work.
The Minister of Culture congratulates Mohamed Salmawi for being chosen as Cultural Personality of the Year at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2025
The Minister of Culture stressed that choosing a distinguished Egyptian figure like Mohamed Salmawi for this high title represents a well-deserved appreciation for his distinguished creativity and intellectual and literary stature that extended to illuminate the Arab and international cultural scene, pointing out that Egypt was and still is full of creative people who contribute to consolidating the status of Arab culture on the international scene, and that this honor is considered a pride for Egyptian culture, which has always produced symbols who have influenced In the human conscience through literature, art, theater and thought.
Muhammad Salmawi is considered one of the most prominent literary voices in Egypt and the Arab world. With his prolific creativity and unique theatrical and novel writings, he formed a milestone in contemporary Arab literature, in addition to his influential role in supporting the issues of Arab intellectuals and advancing the Arab cultural scene.
His works have been translated into several languages, including English, French, Italian, German, Romanian, Hindi, and Urdu, and his plays were presented in theaters in France, Italy, Germany, the United States, and Canada. His novels also gained the attention of critics and readers because of their human depth and intellectual vision that reflects the reality of the Arab person and his social transformations.
Salmawi has an active presence in the Egyptian and Arab cultural scene. He served as president of the Egyptian Writers Union for more than ten years, and international writer Naguib Mahfouz chose him as his personal representative at the Nobel Prize for Literature award ceremony in Stockholm in 1988.
During his career, Salmawi received a number of international honors and honors, including the French Order of Arts and Letters with the rank of Knight, the Italian Order of Merit, the Belgian Crown Order, the Grand Peace Prize from Senegal, in addition to the State Award of Appreciation and the Nile Prize in Literature from the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Ahmed bin Rakad Al Ameri, CEO of the Sharjah Book Authority, stressed that honoring the great writer Muhammad Salmawi represents an extension of Sharjah’s approach to celebrating Arab cultural symbols that contributed to shaping human awareness and developing the literary scene in the region, pointing out that Salmawi’s theatrical and novelistic works left a deep imprint on contemporary Arab culture, and embody the values that the Sharjah International Book Fair believes in, which are that Culture is an enlightenment act and a shared human responsibility between the creator and society.
Al-Amiri added: “This year we celebrate an icon who combined literary creativity and cultural leadership, and who expressed in his works the issues of the Arab human being with honesty, beauty and depth, confirming that Arab culture is capable of addressing the world in the language of art, thought and humanity.”
