General Entertainment Authority Announces Award for Fiction Writing

The Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al Shaikh, has announced the authority’s new ‘Golden Pen Award for Fiction’. The award focuses on disseminating new and exciting works of fiction, and boasts a total prize pool of USD 690,000 for the winning pieces.

The novel category is divided into three sections, with first prize winning USD 100,000, second prize getting USD 50,000 and third prize going home with USD 30,000. The best novel in each genre including romance, thriller and mystery, comedy, action, fantasy, detective, horror and historical, will each receive an award of USD 25,000.

Screenplays are also eligible for the award with the prizes as follows: first place receives USD 100,000, second place USD 50,000, and third place USD 30,000. An additional prize for the best translated work will receive USD 100,000 and an audience prize will receive a USD 30,000 prize.

The jury for the award consists of three novelists, three screenwriters and three producers, all from the Arab world. All writers are eligible for the prize regardless of age and nationality, with the awards ceremony to be screened on television.