Ahmed Awny

Ahmed Awny is an Egyptian writer and editor whose novels and short stories explore questions of masculinity, political movements, and the intimate consequences of social change. He is the author of Chronic Anxiety (2010), a collection of short stories, and a debut novel, Prizes for Heroes (2019), which received the Sawiris Cultural Award for Best Novel, was selected among Al Jazeera’s best books of the year, and will be published in English by Foundry in 2027. His forthcoming novel, The Younger Brother of Egypt, will be published in Arabic by Diwan later this year. Awny’s fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Markaz Review, Rusted Radishes, AGNI, Mada Masr, and Weiter Schreiben. He is co-manager of Khan Aljanub, an independent publishing house and cultural space in Berlin. (updated 7/2026)