The Lotus Prize for Literature (also known as Lotus International Reward for Literature or The Lotus Prize for African and Asian Literature) is a literary award presented annually to African and Asian authors by the Afro-Asian Writers' Association (also known as Association of Asian and African Writers). It was established in 1969 but cancelled in 1988. During this period, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

was the sponsor of the prize. After this lengthy hiatus, in November 2019, it was reinstated following the renaming of the institution as the Writers' Union of Africa, Asia, and Latin American (WUAALA). The Bureau, as the association was initially known, was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958. In 1962, it moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

, with

Yusuf Sibai Yusuf Mohamed Mohamed Abdel Wahab Al-Sibai ( ar, يوسف محمد محمد عبد الوهاب السباعي; June 17, 1917 – February 18, 1978), was an Egyptian writer and minister. Early life and education Sibai was born in 1919. He gra ...

elected general secretary. The Bureau began to publish a magazine, '' Lotus'', a forum for short stories, poetry, book reviews, and literary essays. The inaugural Lotus Prize was given in 1969 to Alex La Guma, who was living in exile in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

at the time. After the assassination of its secretary general, the Bureau moved to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, then

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, and finally back to Cairo. Former Arab League secretary general Lutfi El-Kholi became its secretary general and when he died, the movement began to falter.

Selected winners

* 1969

Alex La Guma Alex La Guma (20 February 1924 – 11 October 1985) was a South African novelist, leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO) and a defendant in the Treason Trial, whose works helped characterise the movement against ...

* 1969

Mahmoud Darwish Mahmoud Darwish ( ar, محمود درويش, Maḥmūd Darwīsh, 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. He won numerous awards for his works. Darwish used Palestine ...

* 1970 Waleed Seif * 1971

Sonomyn Udval Sonomyn Udval (21 February 1921 – 1991) was a Mongolian women's leader, politician and writer. Biography She was born in Dashinchilen sum of Bulgan Province on 21 February 1921. She worked as the chairwoman of the Central Council of the Mongolia ...

* 1972 Hiroshi Noma * 1973

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938) is a Kenyan author and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu and who formerly wrote in English. He has been described as having been "considered East Africa’s leading novelist". His wo ...

* 1974

* 1975

Kim Chi-Ha Kim Jiha ( ko, 김지하; 4 February 1941 – 8 May 2022) was a South Korean poet and playwright.LTI Korea Author Database: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do# Biography Kim Jiha was born Kim Yeongil on 4 February 1941 in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do. ...

* 1975

Ghassan Kanafani Ghassan Kanafani ( ar, غسان كنفاني, 8 April 1936 – 8 July 1972) was a Palestinian author and a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). On 8 July 1972 ...

* 1975

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and '' magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

* 1976

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

* 1977 Subhas Mukhopadhyay * 1978

Meja Mwangi Meja Mwangi (born 27 December 1948) is a Kenyan writer. He has worked in the film industry, including in screenwriting, assistant directing, and casting. Biography Mwangi was born David Dominic Mwangi in Nanyuki, Kenya, and was educated at Nany ...

* 1978 Abd Alkareem Alkarmi (Abu Salma) * 1979 Antonio Jacinto * 1980 Hussein Morowah (also spelled as Mroué) * 1981

Bhisham Sahni Bhisham Sahni (8 August 1915 – 11 July 2003) was an Indian writer, playwright in Hindi and an actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay '' Tamas'' ("Darkness, Ignorance"), a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of ...

* 1981

Makoto Oda was a Japanese novelist, peace activist, academic and ''Time'' Asian Hero. Early life and career Oda was born in Osaka in 1932 and graduated from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Letters program, majoring in classical Greek philosophy and li ...

* 1982 Ataol Behramoglu * 1983

José Craveirinha José Craveirinha (28 May 1922 – 6 February 2003) was a Mozambican journalist, story writer and poet, who is today considered the greatest poet of Mozambique. His poems, written in Portuguese, address such issues as racism and the Portuguese co ...

* 1986

Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh (Arabic:; 1937 – 28 November 2022) was a Yemeni poet and writer. He followed the school of free poetry and he was the Yemen's first poet to win the Al-Owais cultural Award. Life and career Al-Maqaleh was born in 1937 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotus Prize for Literature Awards established in 1969 Awards established in 2019 1969 establishments in Egypt Awards disestablished in 1982 1982 disestablishments in Egypt African literary awards Asian literary awards Egyptian literary awards Literary awards honoring writers