By Malek Chalhoub

 

WLCU Sydney is proud to announce that entries are now open for the 2026 Dr Charles Malik Literary Awards, an annual celebration of writing, imagination and the enduring relationship between Lebanon and its people across the world.

Named in honour of one of Lebanon’s most distinguished intellectuals and diplomats, the Awards invite writers to explore Lebanon not merely as a place on a map, but as a history, an inheritance, an idea and a living presence carried across generations.

Dr Charles Malik understood the power of language. As a philosopher, statesman and one of the principal architects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he believed that ideas could cross borders, challenge indifference and leave a legacy far beyond the life of the person who first expressed them. The Awards bearing his name seek to preserve that same spirit: thoughtful, courageous and unmistakably Lebanese.

There is no single way to write about Lebanon because there is no single way to carry it.

Entrants are encouraged to submit original work inspired by Lebanon in its broadest sense. A piece may be personal or historical, reflective or imaginative, joyful or confronting. It may explore migration, identity, family, culture, faith, memory, belonging or the experience of Lebanon itself. It may tell the story of a village, a journey, an ancestor, a moment in history or an emotion that has never before found the right words.

There is no single way to write about Lebanon because there is no single way to carry it.

For some, Lebanon is the country of their childhood. For others, it survives through the stories of parents and grandparents, in the food placed on the table, the Arabic heard at home, a family name, an old photograph or the strange familiarity felt upon first seeing a village they had previously known only through memory. The Awards offer writers the opportunity to transform these experiences into something lasting.

Following the success of previous years, the 2026 program recognises writing across the principal Dr Charles Malik Award, together with dedicated Youth and Poetry categories. The competition is open to entrants aged 15 years and over, with the Youth Award recognising writers between 15 and 24. Outstanding entrants in the Youth and Poetry categories remain eligible for the overall Award, ensuring that exceptional work is recognised regardless of age or literary form. Entries should be approximately 3,000 words, and submissions close on 31 December 2026.

The finest submissions do more than describe Lebanon. They reveal it from an angle only the writer could have seen.

The strength of the Awards lies in the freedom they give each writer to approach Lebanon honestly. The judges are not searching for empty praise or familiar expressions of nostalgia. They are looking for work with a distinct voice, emotional truth and something meaningful to say. The finest submissions do more than describe Lebanon. They reveal it from an angle only the writer could have seen.

Last year’s entries demonstrated the remarkable breadth of Lebanese creativity, ranging from memoir and creative nonfiction to historical reflection, academic writing, poetry and deeply personal accounts of identity and return. Each offered its own understanding of Lebanon as a country, a memory, a person or a presence that continues to shape lives long after distance intervenes.

At a time when Lebanon is so often reduced to headlines, hardship and crisis, the Dr Charles Malik Literary Awards create space for a fuller story. They remind us that Lebanon is also intellect, language, humour, beauty, resilience and imagination. It is a civilisation whose greatest inheritance has always been its people and their capacity to create meaning from what they have endured.

Some stories disappear because nobody thinks to preserve them. Others remain unwritten because they feel too ordinary to matter. Yet the memory of one family may contain the history of an entire generation, and a single honest piece of writing may give voice to thousands who recognise themselves within it.

The 2026 Dr Charles Malik Literary Awards are an invitation to write that piece.

Whether you are an established writer, a student discovering your voice or someone who has carried a story quietly for years, WLCU Sydney encourages you to place it on the page. Write about the Lebanon you knew, the Lebanon you inherited, the Lebanon you question or the Lebanon you continue to imagine.

Entries for the 2026 Dr Charles Malik Literary Awards are now open and close on 31 December 2026. Full competition details and rules are available through the WLCU Website.