thesilkroadtoday
A Celebration of a Transcontinental Literary Project and the Announcement of the Personality of the Year 2026
Cairo – Darna Museum
This month, the cultural community celebrates the tenth anniversary of the launch of the “Silk Road Literature” series, founded in 2016 by the Egyptian poet, novelist, and journalist Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, as a cross-border cultural initiative dedicated to building bridges between world cultures and literatures through translation, publishing, and creative dialogue. On this occasion, Darna Museum will host a special celebration at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, 18 June, during which the Cultural Personality of 2026 will be announced, in an annual tradition honoring figures who have contributed to strengthening intercultural dialogue among peoples.
The hosting of this cultural event at Darna Museum reaffirms the role of this free artistic crucible as both a beacon of culture and a driving force for it, since its establishment by the internationally renowned artist Abdel-Razek Okasha. The museum houses one of the rarest private collections of global art on the banks of the Nile.
A Project That Began in Cairo and Reached the World
The “Silk Road Literature” series was launched in 2016 with the aim of introducing literary voices from Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America to Arab readers through direct translations and selected works by poets, novelists, and thinkers from diverse cultural backgrounds. Within a single decade, the series has become a distinctive literary platform that brings together publishing, translation, and cultural exchange, inspired by the spirit of the historical Silk Road as a space for human and civilizational communication.
The project has received wide international recognition, with several cultural institutions highlighting its role in unifying the creative energies of writers from Asia and Europe and in fostering literary dialogue among nations. This appreciation is reflected in the international honors awarded to the founder of the series.
From “A Depressingly Monotonous Landscape” to “The Eurasian Epic”
The first publication in the series was A Depressingly Monotonous Landscape by the Indian poet Hemant Divate, which marked the official beginning of the project in 2016. Subsequent publications followed, encompassing poetic, narrative, and intellectual works from diverse cultures, including Riding a Cloud to Seek You by Korean poet Manhae; The Poetics of Narrative in the Novels of Ashraf Aboul-Yazid by Indian researcher Dr. Sabina K.; Lovers of Life by Egyptian director and writer Fatma El-Zahraa Hassan; They, the Daughters of the Palaces by Taiwanese poet Miao-yi Tu; Ebali: The Broken Pot by Nigerian writer Esther Adealana; I, Cleopatra by Russian writer Inna Nacharova; The Philosopher’s Mail by Emirati poet Adel Khozam; The Sixth Floor by Azerbaijani writer Meyxoş Abdullah; Acacia Branch by Azerbaijani writer Terane Memmed; Russian Cosmism by Russian poet Alexandra Ochirova; ApriorUm by Russian poet Margarita Al;; and The Epic of Eurasian by Chinese poet Cao Shui. These were accompanied by additional poetry anthologies and translated works published successively within the framework of the project.
The series has also published books in Sindhi, Urdu, Azerbaijani, Malayalam, German, and Serbian, in addition to Russian and English.
Over the past decade, the series has expanded to encompass literature, poetry, fiction, children’s literature, and international anthologies, introducing Arab readers to literary voices from China, India, South Korea, Russia, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Taiwan, Mongolia, and many other countries.
The series has also produced the Silk Road Anthology Collection, organized around thematic volumes that brought together hundreds of poets from around the world. These anthologies include Asia Sings, Mediterranean Waves, Ancient Egyptians, Modern Poets, Arabian Nights and World Poets, and Nano Poems for Africa. Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid has further enriched the series with several of his own works, including the English translation of his critical study Naguib Mahfouz: The Narrator and the Artist, his children’s poetry collection The Poet, illustrated by the renowned artist Helmi El-Touni, and his latest work for young adults, which will be unveiled during the anniversary celebration.
The Philosophy of the Series: Reviving the Spirit of the Road
Silk Road Literature regards translation not merely as the transfer of texts from one language to another, but as a means of building mutual understanding among nations. The philosophy of the project is rooted in the vision of its founder, Dr. Aboul-Yazid, whose name has long been associated with travel literature and Silk Road studies. His illustrated encyclopedia on the Silk Road was published by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and he has devoted a significant part of his intellectual and creative efforts to introducing the literatures of Asia and Eurasia to the Arab world.
New Publications and the Personality of the Year
The celebration at Darna Museum will include the launch of a number of new titles joining the series’ growing library, as well as the announcement of the Cultural Personality of the Year 2026. This distinction is awarded by the series in recognition of a literary or cultural figure who has made a remarkable contribution to intercultural dialogue and human creativity. Last year, the award was presented to the distinguished thinker, poet, and UNESCO Ambassador Dr. Alexandra Ochirova during a ceremony hosted by the World Peoples Assembly in Moscow.
The event is expected to bring together writers, translators, artists, and cultural enthusiasts from Egypt and abroad. It will celebrate not only ten years of continuous cultural endeavor, but also reaffirm the project’s enduring mission as one of the leading Arab initiatives dedicated to fostering literary communication among cultures.
Over the years, the series has collaborated with several publishing houses, including Ishraqat and Fahras, before establishing a close partnership with Al-Nasher Publishing, Printing, Distribution and Advertising House under the direction of the poet Magdy Aboul-Khair. During the past three years of this collaboration, works by authors from three continents have been published. The series has also launched a program of live online literary encounters, bringing together authors of diverse nationalities in creative conversations broadcast across borders.
A Decade of Creativity… and New Horizons
Ten years after its inception, Silk Road Literature has become far more than a book series; it has evolved into an international cultural project connecting continents, languages, and generations. As the series celebrates its first decade, the years ahead promise new translations, publications, and cultural events that will continue to revive the spirit of the Silk Road in the landscape of contemporary world literature.
