Egyptian writer Salwa Bakr receives first BRICS Literature Award

Egyptian writer and novelist Salwa Bakr has been awarded the first BRICS Literature Award. The award ceremony took place at the 57th Cairo International Book Fair at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre. This was reported by "Za rubezhom", a partner of TV BRICS.

The award was presented by the Executive Director of the BRICS Literature Award and Director of the Eurasian Foundation for Humanitarian Values, Aleksander Ostroverkh-Kvanchiani.

“We are discovering authors who deserve a global audience, while at the same time building a real pathway for their promotion – within the BRICS space and in countries ready to share our values,” he noted.

The prize is aimed at popularising literary works in the languages of BRICS countries, supporting authors, as well as translating, publishing and promoting their works. Thus, Salwa Bakr’s books will soon be published in 10 languages, including Russian.

“Salwa Bakr is an author with a very distinctive, free voice that opens up a real, living Egypt to readers. Her victory shows that within the BRICS space [...] a common cultural field is being formed, where our stories, our languages and our values sound on equal terms. I am confident that this first success will be followed by new names and new achievements of Egyptian literature within BRICS,” said writer and member of the prize organising committee from Egypt Doha Mostafa Assi, speaking at the book fair venue. She added that the news of the award had become a signal that Egyptian prose is heard and understood far beyond Egypt.

Salwa Bakr herself described the award as special and BRICS as a space that for decades has been shaping a global humanistic culture.

"Our consciousness has been shaped by the great Russian literary heritage of (Anton) Chekhov, (Fyodor) Dostoevsky, Maksim Gorky and an entire constellation of outstanding writers, alongside authors from India, China, Brazil and other countries"

Salwa Bakr Egyptian writer and novelist

Salwa Bakr is one of the leading contemporary Arabic-language writers, the author of seven novels, seven short story collections and one play.

In addition to the main award, the jury presented Indonesian writer Denny JA with a special prize "For Innovations in Literature". He was recognised for developing the genre of the poetic essay, which combines artistic imagination, facts and documentary material.

“We hope that for Salwa Bakr and Denny JA this award will mark the beginning of a long and successful journey in the world of literature, as well as a prologue to recognition not only in BRICS countries, but worldwide. Their books will be translated into 10 languages, enabling millions of new readers to discover these names,” said Co-Chair of the Union of Writers of the BRICS Literature Network Vadim Terekhin, summing up the results of the first season of the prize.

The BRICS Literature Award is a new international award established in November 2024 at the BRICS forum "Traditional Values". The prize supports contemporary authors whose works reflect the cultural and spiritual values of the peoples of BRICS countries and promotes the dissemination of translations and publication of books in the languages of the participating states.

The selection procedure for the laureates took place in several stages. In September 2025, a longlist of 30 authors was announced in Brazil. Following another round of voting by an international professional jury, a shortlist of ten finalists was determined, whose names were later announced in Jakarta. The winner was presented at the BRICS Arts Festival in Khabarovsk on 30 November 2025.

Photo: Sada El-Balad