Saudi Arabia’s culture minister on Sunday appointed Dr. Mohammed Hassan Alwan as head of the literature, translation and publishing department at the Culture Ministry.
Alwan is a Saudi novelist and author born in Riyadh in 1979. He has published six books to date, and his writing has been very popular with readers throughout the Arab world. His literary works have appeared in many international magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times, The Guardian, Words Without Borders and Banipal magazine.
Alwan was a columnist for Al-Watan newspaper between 2007 and 2012. He currently writes for Independent Arabia.
In 2010, he was selected as one of the most promising 39 Arab authors under the age of 40 at the Beirut39 festival.
In 2013, his novel “Al-Qundus” was nominated to the shortlist of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. In 2015, the French version of “Al-Qundus” won the Arab World Institute Award in Paris as the best Arabic novel translated into French for that year. In 2017, his novel “Mouton Sageer” won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
Alwan worked as a relationship service manager at Samba Financial Group between 2003 and 2006. His main responsibility was being the focal point between corporate local and international customers and the bank.
He was also a board member and managing director of Naser M. Alnabit and Sons in Riyadh from 2008 to 2015. He holds a doctorate in marketing and international business management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
He received a master’s degree from the University of Portland in the US, and a bachelor’s degree in information systems from King Saud University in Riyadh.