Novelist and poet Omar Hazek was jailed on December 2, 2013, charged with violating Egypt’s anti-protest law, a “crime” for which he is serving two years in prison. Yet he maintains more hope than most.
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The poet and novelist Omar Hazek, sentenced to two years at Borg El-Arab prison ostensibly for violating Egypt’s controversial anti-protest law, has written his seventh letter from inside prison.
Yesterday was PEN’s “Day of the Imprisoned Writer,” and they recognized five imprisoned writers. Today we remember five others.
Zahraa Abdel Aziz has translated Egyptian poet and novelist Omar Hazek’s most recent, moving letter from prison, dated May 1.
American University in Cairo CAASIC fellow Anny Gaul is currently translating a section from Omar Hazek’s novel “I Don’t Love This City.” Meanwhile, the author — whose case has been taken up by PEN International — remains in prison.
Last week, there was a discussion of Alexandria poet Omar Hazek’s new book, “I Do Not Like This City,” recently released by Dar al-Ain. Unfortunately, the author wasn’t there, as he was in prison when the book was celebrated
This month, Omar Hazek will see his second novel published. Under other circumstances, Hazek’s short novel, set in the afterlife, would likely go unnoticed outside Egypt’s narrow literary circles. Yet this novel has captured attention – not because of its unusual setting, but because it was written inside Alexandria’s Borg al-Arab and al-Hadara prisons.
Egyptian novelist Youssef Ziedan made a widely shared statement on Facebook yesterday: He will suspend “any cultural action or interaction in Egypt and the Arab world.”
