: اتحاد الكتاب العرب) is an association of Arab writers, founded in 1969, in Damascus, Syria, at the initiative of a group of Arab writers including Syrian novelist Hanna Mina.

It ranked Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy as the best Arabic-language novel, followed by In Search of Walid Masoud by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra and Honor by Sonallah Ibrahim.

[3] On 27 January 1995, following Syrian pressure, it was announced in Damascus that the Arab Writers Union had expelled the Syrian poet Adunis, for his participation in a meeting in Spain in 1993 that was attended by Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres.

"[4] In 2007, Iraqi-German writer Najem Wali criticized the Union for its lack of solidarity with imprisoned or persecuted Arab writers and for what he described as its long-standing cooperation with the former government of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Based in London, the SWA described itself as a "democratic alternative" to the Arab Writers Union.