Description

This volume of articles written by Mahfouz between 1971 and 1981 serves as a portrait of a volatile period in Egypt’s history which began with the ‘Corrective Revolution’, and the Yom Kippur War with Israel and ended with the assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat.

In these essays of the Sadat era, published in the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, Mahfouz seems an unreliable narrator. The tension between an author who rails against censorship, yet is bound within its confines, runs through this fascinating body of non-fiction writing. Nonetheless, Mahfouz’s own thoughts are unmistakably present: we gain his insight into diverse political topics, such as socio-economic class, democracy and dictatorship, Islam and extremism, topics which still seem highly pertinent to the situation in Egypt today.

A vital accompaniment to his literature, these collected essays are contemporaneous with Mahfouz’s fictional works such as Karnak Café, The Harafish and Arabian Nights and Days.

Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) is often named as the greatest Arab writer of the twentieth century. He is the author of over thirty novels, including The Cairo Trilogy and Children of the Alley. In 1988 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Rasheed el-Enany is Professor Emeritus of Modern Arabic Literature, University of Exeter, He has authored several books on Mahfouz, including Naguib Mahfouz: His Life and Times.

Aran Byrne completed a master’s degree in Oriental studies at the University of Oxford. He was co-translator of Democracy is the Answer by the best-selling Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany.

Russell Harris is an established translator of literary works from French and Arabic.