Lotus Prize for Literature

rdf:langString Lotus Prize for Literature

rdf:langString The Lotus Prize for Literature (also known as Lotus International Reward for Literature or The Lotus Prize for African and Asian Literature) is a literary award presented annually to African and Asian authors by the (also known as ). It was established in 1969 but cancelled in 1988. During this period, the Soviet Union was the sponsor of the prize. After this lengthy hiatus, in November 2019, it was reinstated following the renaming of the institution as the Writers' Union of Africa, Asia, and Latin American (WUAALA). The Bureau, as the association was initially known, was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958. In 1962, it moved to Cairo, with Yusuf Sibai elected general secretary. The Bureau began to publish a magazine, Lotus, a forum for short stories, poetry, book reviews, and literary essays. The inaugural Lotus Prize was given in 1969 to Alex La Guma, who was living in exile in London at the time. After the assassination of its secretary general, the Bureau moved to Beirut, then Tunisia, and finally back to Cairo. Former Arab League secretary general became its secretary general and when he died, the movement began to falter.