The Sawiris Cultural Award is one special, annual event for all writers who have persevered in their writing careers. There are so many jobs out there in the world, but art is a special one.
The ability to tell a story in the form of a novel, short story, play or film is not a skill that many people have. Often, it is also a skill that many consider a ‘hobby’ or an ‘extra job’. But here’s the thing, what if you love writing and actually want this to be a life-long career?
What is the Sawiris Cultural Award?
The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development founded the Sawiris Cultural Awards to recognize excellence in literary works among established and emerging writers in 2005. This year’s event took place on January 10 at the Opera House where awards were given to novelists, short story authors, playwrights, screenplay writers and literary critics.
Although literature and art arguably have a positive impact on society, it is often overlooked by young adults as a career. This is mainly because the job prospects are perceived as limited with low entry level salaries. Despite that this assumption may be true, the end product and reward followed by writing a novel is phenomenal, as many of the winners at the event expressed.
“In the last 15 years, this competition received thousands of literary works from young adults and established writers,” said famous Egyptian actress Sawsan Badr, in her opening speech. The event features several awards in writing that were given to people who dedicated themselves to a writing career.
“The objective [of the Sawiris Cultural Awards] has always been the same from the very beginning. Our objective is to encourage youth to write and read,” said Samih Sawiris, Chairman of Orascom Development.
Samih Sawiris giving a speech at the Sawiris Cultural Award
Should Egypt’s Youth Consider Writing Careers?
But for youth to enter the ‘writing’ job market, especially in terms of writing a novel, a play or anything artistic, they are often skeptical that it would ever be worth it. According to Forbes, there are a lot of steps to kick-start a writing career on your own as a freelancer. But getting published and recognized via distinguished awards is a whole other thing.
Filmmaker Amir Ramses said, “Throughout the past 10 years with the societal and technological changes, I think this generation has a bigger potential in being able to ‘make it’ in this artistic field.”
To a certain extent, young adults are choosing less generic careers and taking more risks in their lives – even if art is only the side job.
Most of the winners in the competition recommended constant writing and reading to anyone who wants to call themselves a ‘writer’. Although the path to any sort of success in most artistic fields is a bumpy road, the winners admit that it was most definitely worth it.
Michael Wagih, the writer who won a best playwright award was in shock when the news that he actually won reached him. “This is a very important competition and every one participating knows this,” he told 925.
Guests at the Sawiris Cultural Award stand for the Egyptian national anthem
What Does Art Mean To Egypt?
In Egypt, art is an intrinsic part of the society and Chairperson at the Sawiris Cultural Awards, Mohamed Abouelghar acknowledges that. “Historically speaking, art is the soul of Egypt, its strength and its beauty,” he said, as he explained how the Sawiris Cultural Award covers various cultural and artistic jobs.
“This award encourages freedom in art and literature and it opens doors for youth in various types of writing,” said Abouelghar.
To reach a certain level in your writing career where recognition is in place, requires constant practice. For those of you considering a career shift to writing or perhaps a second job, it’s important to understand that writing is not easy. Just because this career is not ‘engineering’ or ‘medicine’ does not make it a breeze at all. Writing takes time, thousands of re-writes and has strange working hours too.
It is important to note that Egypt has become a hub for growing artists in recent years. Some have argued that the revolution was a setback to Egypt’s cultural scene but according to a textbook definition of art, chaos and revolution can serve as an inspiration to many. With the various art galleries, poetry readings, photographers, rising actors and aspiring writers, a considerable amount of Egypt’s youth are looking to work in arts and culture.
Funding arts and culture is a necessary part of the country’s economic growth as UNESCO considers cultural industries to be a way forward in increasing job opportunities and sustainable development.
So aspiring writers, go for it. What’s stopping you?
