Literary Partner Program Expands Across 57 Saudi Cities

The Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission has expanded its partnership drive to strengthen the local cultural and publishing scene through its flagship “Literary Partner” program, now in its fifth edition for the 2025–2026 cycle. The initiative connects literary cafés, cultural hobby clubs, cultural associations, publishing houses, and shared cultural spaces across the Kingdom.

In its latest edition, the program registered 220 literary partners across 57 Saudi cities, delivering 11,677 initiatives and involving 9,240 speakers. New speakers grew by 68%, while the effort reached more than one million beneficiaries nationwide.

How it works

Partners can host a range of activities, including book discussion events, reading clubs, “young author” and “young reader” corners, cultural days linked to literature, and dedicated shelves for Saudi authors’ books that are updated regularly. Each track sets a minimum number of initiatives to qualify — more than 3, 5, or 8 contributions depending on the category, as detailed in the program’s participation matrix.

The initiative offers both non-financial advantages, such as advisory and developmental support, and financial support for operations and marketing, alongside competitive monetary awards for the best-performing partners. In the concluded fifth edition, monetary awards exceeded 1,000,000 SAR, presented to top performers at a closing ceremony held at King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh on 24 July 2026.

For the 2025–2026 cycle, registration ran on the Ministry of Culture’s engagement portal at engage.moc.gov.sa from 30 May to 1 September 2025, with initial screening on 15 September, selected partners announced on 1 October 2025, and the final ceremony set for 15 June 2026. The official contact email for the initiative is literarypartner@moc.gov.sa.

The expansion matters for residents and readers because it brings literary programming closer to communities in dozens of cities, opening doors for aspiring writers, reading clubs, and small publishers to reach wider audiences.

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