Ahmed Naji

"لتحقيق هذا الوعد.. سيداتي سادتي، أريد من كل شخص فيكم أن يغمض عينيه ويفكر في عيب واحد، ‏نقطة ضعف لم ينجح في التخلص منها. أرجوكم فكروا لثوانٍ وحددوا مشكلة واحدة تؤرق حياتكم".‏ ‏ ‏ ‏ تتساقط الجثث في شوارع القاهرة بينما ساحر شاب لا يستطيع النوم مترقباً كارثة أكبر، ‏وشريكة في السكن عالق في مقطوعة إلكترونية غير مكتملة، لكن وحدها "فرح" تعافر حتى ‏تجد مهرب من هذا الخراب إلي اقليم على هيئة دولة، ودولة بلا خيال جمعي، امرأة تلد ‏ربتها، مراعي خضراء للإبل، وملاعب أكبر للجولف، رعاة البهم يتطاولون في البنيان، ثلاث ‏نجمات مجوسية. مدينة ذات قمر مشقوق، محرم فيها الأطفال، ، وناقة تخرج من صخرة ‏وألف عجيبة وعجيبة آخري.‏ ‏ ‏ ‏ ‏ في روايته الثالثة يشيد أحمد ناجي من زواج فاشل وقصة حب هشة عالماً روائياً يمتد من ‏القاهرة لسيناء لنيوم. وينمو خطه الزمني من ثلاثة آلاف سنة قبل الميلاد إلي المستقبل ‏القريب، القادم نحونا بعنف ليدهسنا.‏

والنمور لحجرتي

Upon its initial release in Arabic in the fall of 2014, Using Life received acclaim in Egypt and the wider Arab world. But in 2016, Ahmed Naji was sentenced to two years in prison after a reader complained that an excerpt published in a literary journal harmed public morality. His imprisonment marks the first time in modern Egypt that an author has been jailed for a work of literature. Writers and literary organizations around the world rallied to support Naji, and he was released in December 2016. His original conviction was overturned in May 2017 but, at the time of printing, he is awaiting retrial and banned from leaving Egypt. Set in modern-day Cairo, Using Life follows a young filmmaker, Bassam Bahgat, after a secret society hires him to create a series of documentary films about the urban planning and architecture of Cairo. The plot in which Bassam finds himself ensnared unfolds in the novel's unique mix of text and black-and-white illustrations. The Society of Urbanists, Bassam discovers, is responsible for centuries of world-wide conspiracies that have shaped political regimes, geographical boundaries, reigning ideologies, and religions. It is responsible for today's Cairo, and for everywhere else, too. Yet its methods are subtle and indirect: it operates primarily through manipulating urban architecture, rather than brute force. As Bassam immerses himself in the Society and its shadowy figures, he finds Cairo on the brink of a planned apocalypse, designed to wipe out the whole city and rebuild anew.

Using Life

Areej Gamal

Hatem Hafez

Eman Abdelrahim

Nael Eltoukhy

Mohamed Kheir

Mohamed Salah al-Azab

Nahla Karam

Hend Ja'far

Hassan Abdel Mawgoud

A corrupt police officer trawls the streets of Cairo on the most important assignment of his career: the answer to the truth of all existence… A young journalist struggles over the obituary of a nightclub dancer… A man slowly loses his mind in one of the city’s new desert developments.. There is a saying that, whoever you are, if you come to Cairo you will find a hundred people just like you. For over a thousand years, the city on the banks of the Nile has welcomed travellers from around the world. But in recent years Cairo has also been a stage for expressions of short-lived hope, political disappointments and a violent repression that can barely be written about. These ten short stories showcase some of the most exciting, emerging voices in Egypt, guiding us through one of the world’s largest and most historic cities as it is today – from its slums to its villas, its bars and its balconies, through its infamous traffic. Appearing in English for the first time, these stories evoke the sadness and loss of the modern city, as well as its humour and beauty. Translated by Adam Talib, Raphael Cohen, Basma Ghalayini, Thoraya El-Rayyes, Raph Cormack, Andrew Leber, Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, Elisabeth Jaquette, Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Yasmine Seale.

A City in Short Fiction

The Book of Cairo

Ahmed Naji

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