Author Fined for ‘Offensive’ Graphic Novel
Bikya Masr reports that Magdy el-Shafee and his publisher have been fined 5,000LE for the publication and distribution of Egypt’s first graphic novel, Metro.
Apparently it offended public morals.
You can nonetheless still read a portion of it at Words Without Borders. A few images are also still on Magdy’s website.
So, there is the upside to being a writer in Egypt in 2009 (more money! more conferences! fabulous bookstores! more prizes!) and the downside (public morals, interior ministry, censorship).
More on the ruling from Egypt.Com news.
Graphic Novels: ‘Everybody’s Doing Them’ « Arabic Literature (in English)
January 21, 2010 @ 3:44 am
[…] first Egyptian graphic novel for grown-ups—was presented at the Cairo book fair, it was censored, yanked from shelves, and the author and publisher fined 5,000LE for offending public morals. I […]
New Words Without Borders: Graphic Lit from Lebanon, Cairo « Arabic Literature (in English)
February 4, 2010 @ 5:07 am
[…] and I’m still mourning Magdy Shafee’s Metro. While it perhaps wasn’t high literature, it could’ve heralded a new way of […]
The Mechanics of Censorship in Egypt « Arabic Literature (in English)
February 17, 2010 @ 5:51 am
[…] censorship. Some of the most high-profile yankings have happened at the Cairo Book Fair: Magdy al Shafee’s graphic novel Metro, and, this year, Idris Ali’s The Leader Is Cutting His […]