Rotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in an Egyptian Prison

This panel will feature a discussion with Egyptian writer Ahmed Naji about his time spent in a Cairene prison for violating public decency laws in his second novel, Using Life. Being a prisoner forced Ahmed to examine the role of literature in society; meet the fabled Average Reader and a man named Rhinoceros; and confront his own ambivalence in calling himself a writer. The basis for this panel will be Ahmed’s recent essay in the Believer Magazine.