Editor in Chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo newspaper, writer in Al-Ahram daily and syndicated columnist in a number of other publications.

Aide to the Minister of Information (2004-2005

Managing Editor of Al-Ahram Weekly newspaper (1991-1993

Member of the Central Desk of Al-Ahram

Undersecretary of State for Foreign Cultural Relations at the Egyptian Ministry of Culture (1988-1989

Undersecretary of State for Foreign Cultural Relations at the Egyptian Ministry of Culture (1988-1989
 
Deputy Editor of Foreign Affairs, Al-Ahram Newspaper (1979-1988 

Expert at the Center for Political and Strategic Studies at Al-Ahram (1977-1979

Editor of Foreign News at Al-Ahram Newspaper (1970-1977

Teacher of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University
(1966-1970
 

B.A. in English Literature, Cairo University (1966

Diploma of English Civilization and History, Birmingham University (1969

Diploma in Shakespearean Drama, Oxford University (1970

Diploma in Shakespearean Drama, Oxford University (1970

Attended various courses at the Salzburg Seminar and has also lectured there

I Shall Tell You All, a play, 1967

Come Back Tomorrow, a play, 1983.

Next in line, a play, 1983

The Man Who Regained his Memory, short stories, 1983.

Murderer at Large, a play, 1985.

Salome, a play, 1986.

Two Down the Drain, a play, 1987.

Concerto for the Nay, short stories, 1988.

Coloured Beads, a novel, 1990.

Gate of Fortune, short stories, 1992.

Al-Ganzeer (The Chain), a play, 1995.

The Last Dance of Salome, a play, 1999.

Messages of Return, short stories, 2000.

Wafaa Idris and other Palestinian Stories, short stories, 2002.

The Sycamore, stories for children, 2003.

Mr. Ibrahim and the flowers of the Quran of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (translation and introduction), 2005.
 

Editor of Foreign Affairs, 1976. Origins of British Socialism, 1987 (Introduction by Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali). Nasser's Public Image, 1983. Egypt, My Homeland : Dialogue with Naguib Mahfouz, 1996. One Hundred and One Books, 1999.

— Come Back Tomorrow (English), Three Continents Press, Washington, 1985.

— Two Down the Drain (English),The General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO) , 1993.

— Al-Ganzeer (French), Alef Publishing House, 1996. — Mon Egypte : Naguib Mahfouz dialogue avec Mohamed Salmawy (French), by J.C. Lattès, Paris, 1996

— Naguib Mahfouz at Sidi Gaber : Reflections of a Nobel Laureate from conversations with Mohamed Salmawy (English) by the AUC Press, Cairo, 2001.

— La Dernière Danse de Salomé (French), L'Harmattan, Paris, 2001.

— The Last Station : Naguib Mahfouz Looks Back (English), AUC Press, Cairo, New York, 2007.

— Come Back Tomorrow was presented in English at Sanctuary Theatre in Washington, 1991.

— The Mulheim's Theatre in Germany presented a play-reading in German of Two Down the Drain , 1994.

— His play The Chain (Al-Ganzeer) was played at Le Trianon Theatre, Paris, 1996.

— I Shall Tell You All, was presented in the International Book Fair in Ottawa, Canada, 2002.

— He received the honorary distinction of Commandeur of the Ordre of the Crown by King Albert II of Belgium in 2008.

— He was awarded the Order of Merit "Grande Officiale" by the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2006

— He was decorated as Chevalier (Knight) of the Arts and Letters by the French Government in 1995

 — He was chosen as « The Playwright of the Year » by Al-Ahram newspaper in 1994.

— His play The Last Dance of Salome received a special award at the Carthage Theatre Festival, Tunisia, 1999.

— His play Al-Ganzeer won the prize for best play of the year at the Cairo International Book Fair, 1996.

— His play Salome was the prize-winning entry at the Jerash International Festival in Jordan in 1989.

— His play Come Back Tomorrow was chosen as best play of the year at the First Arab Theatre Festival in 1984.
 

— The Literature of Beautiful Corruption, by Gamal Fadel, General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO), Cairo, 1987.

— Absurdity and Realism. The Theatre of Mohamed Salmawy, by Dr. Louis Awad, Dr. Naïm Attiya, Dr. Ghaly Shukry, Saad Ardash and others, Alef Publishing House, Cairo, 1992.

— Echoes of Al-Ganzeer, by Dr. Gaber Asfour, Ahmed Abdel Moeti Hegazi, Alfred Farag, Sami Khachaba, Ragaa Al-Naqqash and others, Alef Publishing House, Cairo, 1996.

— The Theatre of Confrontation: A Reading of Mohamed Salmawy's Theatre, by Khalil Al-Gizawy, General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO), Cairo, 2004.

— The Absurdity of Reality and the Realism of Absurdity, by Osman Al-Hamamsi, General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO), Cairo, 2004.

— Egyptian Theatre in the Eighties, by Dr. Mostapha Abdel-Ghany, General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO), Cairo, 2005.

Academic studies on his work

— American University in Cairo, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Master Degree, Salome between Oscar Wilde and Mohamed Salmawy, by Mounira Gamal Soliman, Supervised by Professor Ferial Ghazoul, 1993.

— University of Leeds, Faculty of English Litterature, Doctorate Degree, Influence of the Theatre of the Absurd on Arabic Drama, by Hanan Al-Ghafry, 1996.

— Academy of Arts, High Institute of Drama, Doctorate Degree, Study on Dramatic Techniques of Stage Directing between Realism and the Absurd in Egyptian Drama (1965-1985), by Osman Mahmoud Al-Hamamsy, supervised by Professor Saad Ardash, 1998.

— Helwan University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Drama, Section of Critics, Political Provocation in Mohamed Salmawy's Drama, by Rasha Mohamed Zidan Salama, supervised by Professor Hassan Attiya 2002.

— Academy of Arts, High Institute of Drama, Section of Critics, Graduation Degree, Evolution of the Concept of Dramatic Heroes in the Works of Mohamed Salmawy, by Ahmad Morsy Hafez Morsy, supervised by Professor Hassan Attiya, 2004.

— Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Islamic and Middle East Studies, Master’s Degree, Social and Political Aspects of Mohamed Salmawy's Drama, by Neama Afyad, supervised by Professor Gabriel Rozenbaum, 2005.

— Arabic Ligue, Institute of Arabic Studies and Researches, Department of arts and linguistics, Doctorate Degree, The Role of the Egyptian Political Theatre in the Formation of Drama (1967-1981), by Tewfik Moussa Ali Al-Louh, Supervised by Professor Ahmad Zaki.

— He is listed in numerous international references such as: Who’s Who in the Arab World (London, England); Who’s Who in the World (Marquis Who’s Who Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA); Who is Who? Namenstexte Der Prominenz Aus Politik, Wirtschaft Und Kultur (Verlag fur industrie - Und Wirtschafts Werbung GMbh, Berlin, Deutschland); Men of Achievement (International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England); Men and Women of Distinction (International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England);

— He has been the subject of numerous interviews and articles both as creative writer and political analyst in the Washington Post, B.B.C., Le Monde, Canberra Times, The Guardian, CNN, etc.

— He was elected member of the Journalists Syndicate's Board and president of its Cultural Comittee (1984-1988).

— He took part in literary, theatrical and cultural conferences and festivals in Edinburgh, Bern, Mexico City, Singapore, Munich, Damascus, Baghdad, etc., where he was invited to read out some of his works.

— He is the founder of the Experimental Theatre Festival and was nominated “First Secretary General” of the mentioned Festival in 1988.

— He was chosen by Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz to represent him in the Nobel Celebrations in Stockholm (1988) where he read out Mr. Mahfouz’s Nobel lecture at the Swedish Academy.

— He has participated in the founding of Al-Ahram Weekly (published in English) in 1991, and founded Al-Ahram Hebdo (a weekly in French) published by Al-Ahram, 1994.

— He was chosen as member of the Supreme Council of Culture (Theatre Committee) from 1996 to 2003.

— He founded the first NGO in the Arab World, The Arab Defense Society, registered under no 457/2000, with the aim of defending the Arab image abroad. He was its first chairman.

— He was chosen as member of the jury of FIPA Audiovisual Festival in Biarritz, France, 2003.

— He was member of the Jury of the Cairo International Film Festival, 2003.

— He has been appointed as General Egyptian delegate in charge of supervising the Celebrations of the Italy-Egypt Year, 2003-2004.

— He was nominated Head of the Jury of Medfilm Festival in Rome, 2004.

— He has been appointed as Head of the Jury of the National Egyptian Film Festival, 2004.

— He was elected President of the Writers’ Union of Egypt, 2005.

— He was elected Secretary General of the General Union of Arab Writers, 2006.

Has travelled widely in U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, Britain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Ex-Yugoslavia, Poland, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Ex-U.S.S.R., China, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, United Arab Emirates, Yemen ,Bahrain.

Fluent English and French besides Arabic.

Married to artist-painter Nazli Madkour.
They have two children and one grandchild.

Reading, Music and Antiques.

February 2008