Algerian writer Tahar Ouettar co-winner of 2005 UNESCO prize for Arab culture

25/09/2005

[File] Ouettar

Algerian writer Tahar Ouettar is co-winner of the 2005 Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, UNESCO announced Friday (23 September). He will be presented the prize along with French academic Michel Lagarde on 29 September in Paris. The 82-year-old journalist and writer is one of the leading figures of Arabic-language letters in Algeria, the statement said. He has written several novels including "The Ace", "The Donkey's Wedding", and "The Candle and Dark Tunnels," along with helping to create Al-Jamahir and Al-Ahrar magazines.

The prize, which includes a monetary award of $ 25,000, was created in 1998 by the executive Board of UNESCO with funds provided by the Sharjah Government in the UAE. It is awarded each year to individuals or groups that have contributed in some significant way to the development and promotion of Arab culture and the preservation of Arab cultural heritage. (APS, UNESCO, UN News Centre)