Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

In Radwa Ashour's "The Journey", newly translated by Michelle Hartman, the Egyptian novelist chronicles the four years she spent doing a PhD in African-American Literature at the University of Massachusetts in the 1970s. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore

The Egyptian military regime regularly targets authors, accusing them of "violating public morals". The trial of Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji ranks as one of the most prominent cases in recent years. Interview conducted by Moritz B. and Luisa M.More

Following his suicide in 1969, the private diaries of Egyptian writer Waguih Ghali, known for his one best-selling novel, ″Beer in the Snooker Club″, were preserved. Surviving only as copies, they were made available through Cornell University in 2014. May Hawas has now deciphered Ghali′s sometimes drunken scrawl and compiled his journals into two eminently readable volumes. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the firstMore

A cargo of books and a smart tricycle fitted with bookshelves: with these simple means, Hadeer Mansour und Mohammad launched their project – a small mobile library that travels through the neighbourhoods of the Egyptian capital Cairo. By Islam AnwarMore

Her book "Al-Bab al-Maftooh" (The Open Door), published in 1960, made Latifa al-Zayyat famous overnight. Her reputation as a feminist writer was sealed by the film version of the novel, starring the legendary actress Faten Hamama (at the time, the wife of Omar Sharif). By Sherif Abdel SamadMore

The Egyptian poet, essayist, novelist and journalist Youssef Rakha moves between two worlds. He aims to show his Western readers an eclectic Cairo beyond common cliches. Interview by Susanne SchandaMore

Iman Mersal, part of Egypt′s 90s generation, is one of the most interesting voices in contemporary Arabic poetry. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages, with poems from her much-awaited ″Until I Give Up the Idea of Houses″ (2013) currently being rendered into English by Robyn Creswell. Interview by Marcia Lynx QualeyMore