SF, fantasy, and YA author-translator Ahmed Samah Al-Mahdi shares a chapter from his novel Malaz.
Sunday Submissions: EBRD Literature Prize 2019
The first prize, worth €20,000, will be equally divided between the winning author and translator. Two runners-up and their translators will receive a prize of €1,000 each.
In Celebration of Neil Hewison: An Except from His Translation of Yusuf Abu Rayya’s ‘Wedding Night’
Shaykha Aida scolded her sister. “Must you really?” “The mute knocked into me.” “I’ll give you a knock!”
Egyptian Poet Fatima Naoot Gets Three-year Jail Sentence for ‘Insulting Islam’
"[T]he recent surge in the prosecution of opinion makers comes in conjunction with a fierce security campaign launched by security bodies against freedom of opinion and expression, with the aim of narrowing the overall climate of freedom of opinion and expression."
Egyptian Novelist Ahmed Naji and Editor Tarek al-Taher Will Go Back to Court in ‘Public Morals’ Case
As Naji wrote on Facebook: We'll start again from scratch and reinvent the wheel in order to explain what's creative freedom and what's literature again.
The Egyptians Who Write in English
Sahar el-Moughi notes, in a review that ran on Al Masry Al Youm earlier this week, that: A few years ago, I would have looked with suspicion on Egyptian writers choosing a language other than their native tongue as their medium, with the clear exception of Ahdaf Soueif since she has declared that her creative … Continue reading The Egyptians Who Write in English
Egyptian Satirist Mahmoud Al-Saadani Dies
Well-known Egyptian satirist Mahmoud al-Saadani died in Kuwait this week after an eight-year illness. He was 82. The Al Jazeera obituary called al-Saadani "one of the pioneers of satirical writing in the Arab world." Al Jazeera also noted that, early in al-Saadani's career, critics had predicted he would be strong competition for the great short-story … Continue reading Egyptian Satirist Mahmoud Al-Saadani Dies
