The author, whose name was put forward by University of Cairo professor Shawky Deif, was a major force in the development of Egyptian theatre, as well as being an important novelist and a witty public commentator.

It is hardly surprising that al-Hakim was nominated for the Nobel. The first Arabic-language author to appear in the Nobel archives was fellow Egyptian author Taha Hussein (1889-1973), who showed up as a nominee in 1964. A history of Arabic-language authors and the Nobel prize Tawfiq al-Hakim, Egyptian author and writer. Thus, it will likely be January 2070 before we hear about which writers' works went head-to-head with Handke's.Īnd it’s only now, when the 1969 nominations have finally been made public, that we know the name of the second Arabic-language author ever nominated for the world’s most coveted literary prize: Egyptian playwright, novelist and essayist Tawfiq al-Hakim, who died at the age of 88 in 1987. Information about the Nobel nominations are kept sealed for 50 years after the prizes are awarded at a ceremony that takes place in Stockholm each December. Although we know who won the 2019 prize – it went to Peter Handke, with Olga Tokarczuk belatedly announced as the 2018 winner – we don't know who else was on the shortlist, nor whether the Swedish Academy members argued about Handke's politics.

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أهل الكهف by Tawfiq Al-Hakim