Acclaimed Kuwaiti novelist, playwright and journalist Saud Al Sanousi has been awarded the 2025 Best Novel Award by the Kuwaiti Writers Association for his novel “The Scrolls of Mud City” (Asfar Madinat Al Teen).
The honour was presented during the opening ceremony of the association’s new cultural season, held under the patronage of Sheikha Afrah Al Mubarak Al Sabah, which also celebrated the winners of the inaugural season’s awards.
The Scrolls of Mud City (2023, 2024) is an epic historical fiction trilogy set in Kuwait, masterfully blending myths, beliefs, and narratives to depict Kuwaiti society and the lives of visionaries, pearl divers, merchants, and traders during a defining era in the nation’s history.
The novel took nine years of research and writing. In the trilogy, Al Sanousi revisits seven decades of Kuwait’s history through a narrative that blends history, fantasy, and myth. The Scrolls of Mud City, which was shortlisted for the 2025 Sheikh Zayed Book Award, reflects the transformations of Kuwaiti society, from mud to cement, from pearl diving to the oil era, while exploring the lives of the characters who shaped each of these periods.
“The Scrolls of Mud City” trilogy was published by Moulaph Publications and Kalimat Publishing in three volumes: “The Cloak” (2023), “The Dive” (2023), and The Yellowbar Angelfish (2024).
