Al Owais Award

The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards (or Al Owais Awards; جائزة سلطان بن علي العويس) are a biannual prize for literary and cultural achievement in the Arab world. It is administered by the Sultan Bin Al Owais Cultural Foundation of the United Arab Emirates. The award was established by the late Emirati businessman and philanthropist Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais. The awards were first given out in 1988-89.

The Al Owais Cultural Awards are given in four categories: Poetry, Novels, Criticism/Literature Studies, and Human/Future Studies. Winners in each category receive a prize of US$100,000 for a total of US$400,000 making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. A fifth award called the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Award for Scientific and Cultural Achievement has different rules and criteria, with a prize amount of US$100,000.

In 2004, the poetry prize was given to Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef but was controversially withdrawn after he criticized UAE ruler Sheikh Zayed bin al-Nahiyan.

Winners
List of winners:

1988–1989

 * Poetry: Fadwa Touqan
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Sa’ad Allah Wanous, Hanna Mena
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Jabra Ebrahim Jabra, Ali Jawad Al Taher

1990–1991

 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Alfred Farag, Abdul Rahman Mouneef
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Ehssan Abbas
 * Human & Future Studies: Zaki Nageeb Mahmood, Fuad Zacharia
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Mohammad Mahdi Al Jawaheri

1992–1993

 * Poetry: Abdullah Al Baraddouni
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Sulaiman Fayyad, Sun-Allah Ebrahim
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Yumna Al Eid, Farooq Abdul Qader
 * Human & Future Studies: Abdullah Abdul Dayem
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Nizar Qabbani

1994–1995

 * Poetry: Abdul Wahhab Al Bayati
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Edward Al Kharrat
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Nasser Al deen Al Assad
 * Human & Future Studies: Awatef Abdul Rahman, Mohammed Ghanem Al Rumaihi
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Hamad Al Jasser

1996–1997

 * Poetry: Ahmed Abdul Mutti Hijazi, Ebrahim Nassrullah
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Jamal Al Ghitani, Waleed Ekhlassi
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Jaber Assfour, Shukri Ayyad
 * Human & Future Studies: Mohammed Jaber Al Anssari, Fahmi Jada’an, Mohammed Jaber Al Anssari
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Edward Saeed

1998–1999

 * Poetry: Mohammed Afifi Mattar
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Fuad Al Takarli
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Abdullah Al Ghozami
 * Human & Future Studies: Saleh Ahmad Al Ali, Nasseef Nassar
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Yousef Al Qaradhawi

2000–2001

 * Poetry: Qassim Haddad
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Zakaria Tamir, Mohammad Al Bassati
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Mohsin Jassim Al Mosawi
 * Human & Future Studies: Abdul Wahab Al Maseeri
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Al-Arabi magazine

2002–2003

 * Poetry: Hasab Al Sheikh Ja’afar
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Muhammad Khudayyir
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Mustafa Abdou Nassif
 * Human & Future Studies: Mahmoud Ameen Al A’lem
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Mahmoud Darwish, Adunis

2004–2005

 * Poetry: Mohammed Al Maghout
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Iz Aldin Al Madani
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Mohammed Meftah
 * Human & Future Studies: Antoon Zahlan
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Tharwat Okasha

2006–2007

 * Poetry: Mohammed Bennis
 * Stories Novels & Drama: Yousef el-Sharoni, Elias Khoury
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Abdelfattah Kilito
 * Human & Future Studies: Hisham D'jait
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Juma Al Majid, Salma Khadra Jayyusi

2008–2009

 * Poetry: Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: El Taher Wattar
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Abdul Salam Misaddi
 * Human & Future Studies: Galal Amin
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak

2010–2011

 * Poetry: Mohammed Ali Shams Al Din
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Radwa Ashour
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Faisal Darraj
 * Human & Future Studies: Abdul Aziz Al Douri
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Amin Maalouf

2012–2013

 * Poetry: Mohammad Ibrahim Abu Senna, Nazih Abu Afash
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Mohammed Azeddine Tazi
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Ahmed Etman
 * Human & Future Studies: El Sayed Yassin
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Dar Al Khaleej Printing & Publishing

2014–2015

 * Poetry: Habib Al Sayegh
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Yusuf al-Qa'id, Ismail Fahd Ismail
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Salah Fadl, Kamal Abu-Deeb
 * Human & Future Studies: Roshdi Rashed
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: King Faisal Foundation

2016–2017

 * Poetry: Chawki Bazih
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Hoda Barakat, Abdel Khaliq al-Rikabi
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Hammadi Hmaida Sammoud
 * Human & Future Studies: Georges Corm
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: United Arab Emirates University

2018–2019

 * Poetry: Ali Ja'far al-Allaq
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Alawiya Sobh
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Mohammed Lutfi Al Yusufi
 * Human & Future Studies: Haidar Ibrahim Ali
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa

2020–2021

 * Poetry: Elias Lahoud
 * Stories, Novels & Drama: Nabil Suleiman
 * Criticism & Literature Studies: Abdul Malik Murtad
 * Human & Future Studies: Ahmed Zayed
 * Cultural & Scientific Achievements: Assilah Forum Foundation