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Cairo, Egypt / Kisii, Kenya — The Silk Road Literature Series has announced three new recipients of the Golden Papyrus Award: Syrian poet, journalist, and documentary filmmaker Hani Nadeem; Saudi poet and literary figure Hatem Al-Shahri; and Kenyan poet, scholar, playwright, and literary organizer Dr. Christopher Okemwa. The announcement, made during the Kistrech International Poetry Festival in Kenya, extends the award’s international reach and reaffirms its commitment to celebrating literary excellence, preserving cultural memory, and strengthening dialogue among civilizations.
Established by the Silk Road Literature Series, the Golden Papyrus Award honors writers and cultural figures whose achievements reflect the enduring power of literature to transcend geographical boundaries and bring people together. Inspired by ancient Egypt’s papyrus tradition and the symbolic heritage associated with Horus, the award evokes wisdom, vision, protection, and the transmission of knowledge across generations. It connects the legacy of one of humanity’s earliest writing civilizations with the creative voices shaping contemporary world literature.
The award’s philosophy rests on the conviction that literature is a shared human inheritance. Through poetry, fiction, translation, scholarship, and cultural exchange, writers preserve the experiences of their communities while giving them a place in the wider conversation of humanity. The three new laureates embody this vision through distinct careers rooted in Arab and African literary traditions and enriched by international engagement.
Hani Nadeem: Connecting Literature, Journalism, and Cultural Memory
Hani Nadeem is a distinguished Syrian poet, journalist, and documentary filmmaker whose career spans literature, media, and cultural communication. Born in 1972, he has held prominent editorial and cultural positions across the Arab world, working with major governmental and media institutions, including the UAE Ministry of Heritage and the Saudi heritage authority. He has also worked as a journalist for *Elaph* newspaper and served as Editor-in-Chief of *flynas* magazine, contributing to contemporary Arab cultural and travel journalism.
A prolific writer, Nadeem has published twenty books encompassing poetry, journalism, and travel writing. His writings have appeared in major Arabic periodicals, and his professional record includes hundreds of published articles and more than 400 in-depth interviews with prominent Arab intellectuals, writers, and cultural figures. He has also written numerous screenplays for dramatic and documentary films.
Nadeem’s work brings together literary imagination, journalistic inquiry, and cultural documentation. Through his poetry and travel writing, he explores the experiences of people and places, preserving individual stories while illuminating broader questions of identity, memory, and belonging. His recognition with the Golden Papyrus Award celebrates a career dedicated to connecting literature with the realities of human experience and building bridges between cultures through the written and visual word.
Hatem Al-Shahri: Exploring the Universal Human Experience
Saudi poet and writer Hatem Al-Shahri brings to the award a literary career distinguished by diversity, emotional depth, and international recognition. Based in Riyadh, he has published seventeen books spanning poetry, short stories, essays, literary criticism, correspondence, and other literary forms. His writing explores existential questions, love, loneliness, memory, loss, and the search for meaning, transforming personal reflections into meditations on the universal human condition.
His collection *Where Does All This Death Come From?* received the 2024 Ibn Arabi International Prize in Spain, bringing further international attention to his poetry. His work has appeared in numerous languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Kurdish, Albanian, and Bosnian, extending its reach across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
Al-Shahri has also participated in literary events across several continents and contributed to cultural institutions, literary juries, and academic initiatives. In 2018, his short story “The Tribe of Wood” won second place in the inaugural House of Narrative Short Story Award, organized by the Saudi Society for Culture and Arts in Dammam.
His Golden Papyrus recognition acknowledges a creative journey that connects intimate human emotions with wider philosophical questions. By exploring experiences shared across societies, Al-Shahri’s writing demonstrates how literature can cross borders without losing the distinctive voice and sensibility from which it emerges.
Dr. Christopher Okemwa: Advancing African Poetry and International Exchange
Dr. Christopher Okemwa, a Kenyan poet, scholar, playwright, and literary organizer, is recognized for his substantial contribution to African literature and international literary dialogue. A lecturer in poetry and drama at Kisii University, he holds a PhD in Performance Poetry from Moi University and is the founder and director of the Kistrech International Poetry Festival, which brings together poets and literary voices from Africa and other parts of the world.
His literary achievements encompass poetry, fiction, children’s literature, folklore, drama, and oral literature studies. He has authored fifteen poetry collections, ten folktales of the Abagusii people of Kenya, five children’s storybooks, two novellas, one play, and four textbooks on oral literature. His novella *Sabina and the Mystery of the Ogre* won the Canadian Burt Award for African Literature in 2015. Its sequel, *Sabina the Rain Girl*, and his short-story collection *Chubot the Cursed One and Other Stories* were selected for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 Zero Hunger reading list in 2022. In 2024, he was appointed an international consultant and judge for the Nigeria Prize for Literature.
Okemwa has translated creative works by four international authors from English into Kiswahili and edited numerous international poetry anthologies addressing social justice, resilience, peace, war, and humanity’s shared challenges. These include *The Griots of Ubuntu: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from Africa*, *Ukraine: A World Anthology of Poems on War*, and *Butterflies in Gaza: A World Anthology of Poems on Peace*.
His selection is particularly meaningful in the context of the Kistrech International Poetry Festival, which he founded and continues to lead. The award recognizes both his creative achievements and his sustained efforts to provide platforms for African voices, facilitate translation, and encourage exchanges between literary traditions.
A Growing International Tradition
The three new laureates join a distinguished group of writers and cultural figures previously honored by the Golden Papyrus Award. Among them are Chinese poets and literary figures **Cao Shui** and **Wang Fangwen**, and eminent Kazakh poet **Ulugbek Orazbayuly Yesdaulet**, former chairman of the Writers’ Union of Kazakhstan. The award’s international reach also expanded during the Ekh Nutag International Poetry Festival in Mongolia, where **Margarita Al, Elena Olzievna, Borivjavin Gerelt-Od, and Tsedend-Ish**, the veteran poet and artist from Inner Mongolia, were recognized for their contributions to literature, cultural cooperation, and the preservation of nomadic heritage.
Together, the previous and new laureates represent a wide spectrum of literary expression, from epic poetry and philosophical inquiry to cultural preservation, contemporary verse, and international translation. Their achievements reflect the award’s commitment to honoring writers whose work carries the memory of their communities into a wider human conversation.
Founded in 2016, the Silk Road Literature Series continues to develop international literary connections through publications, translations, and cultural collaborations. Its work draws inspiration from the historic Silk Road, where the movement of people, ideas, and artistic traditions helped shape civilizations across continents.
The Golden Papyrus Award extends that legacy into the present, recognizing that literature is not only an expression of individual excellence but also a universal responsibility: to preserve wisdom, inspire imagination, and strengthen the bonds between peoples.
Like the ancient papyrus that carried the first written dreams of civilization across millennia, the works of these laureates carry humanity’s shared memory into the future, affirming that literature remains one of the greatest instruments of peace, understanding, and the eternal dialogue of cultures.
**The Silk Road Literature Series**
Cairo, Egypt
