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In 2003, the Egyptian government awarded Son’Allah Ibrahim the country’s most prestigious literary prize, which came with a cash reward worth $20,000. Ibrahim is famous for his anti-regime novels and for being a communist during the 1970s, when most Egyptian communists, including himself, were persecuted and jailed in Wahat prison (“Wahat” means “oasis”). On the day of the award ceremony, Ibrahim went on stage and rejected the prize, decrying the government for its corruption and for the high rates of poverty and illiteracy in Egypt.
In the wake of Ibrahim’s refusal of the prize, there was public debate about whether he should have accepted the money and donated it to the needy poor people he mentioned. Some said he should have rejected the prize when the announcement was first made—two days before the ceremony—thus avoiding the public theatrics. Ibrahim himself argued that by refusing the prize publicly, he made a stand beyond the mere refusal of money. He was able to speak politics to the public. It was only through a public refusal of the prize, suggested Ibrahim, that politics could be heard. Otherwise, he would only be heard through the muted and censored speech of his writings, which hardly speak as loudly.
Later, the government changed the procedures surrounding the prize that it awarded to Ibrahim. Now writers have to apply for it first, before they can be chosen to win it, just in case someone decides to follow in Ibrahim’s footsteps.
*Son’Allah Ibrahim passed away on 13/8/2025