Remember Magdy al-Shafee?
Yes, the author of what was perhaps Egypt’s first graphic novel, Metro. Yes, it was banned—and its author and publisher fined for their trouble. And yes, Metro was eventually translated and published in Italian, but it has not (yet!) been re-released in Arabic.
Apparently, al-Shafee put together a short illustrated tract on the revolution that he made available in Tahrir. Yesterday, Words Without Borders published a translation.
A quote from Humphrey Davies’ translation, available on WWB:
We’ve been afraid all our lives. The first time I felt I was a human being was when I went to the square because the street was ours. I didn’t belong any longer to the thugs who’ve been scaring us. They don’t scare us any more. I’m going again, so I can hold my head high.
More from WWB:
Susan Harris interviewed al-Shafee last fall.
WWB also published an excerpt of Metro, translated by Humphrey Davies.
From the ArabLit archives:
Lena Merhej, Tok Tok, and Calls for the New Arabic Graphic Novel
Arabic-language Readers ‘Starving’ for Comics
Egyptian Graphic Novelist Magdy Al-Shafee Speaks at Italian Festival
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