Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. Mahfouz is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers in Arabic literature,along with Taha Hussein,to explore themes of existentialism. He is the only Egyptian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He published 35 novels,over 350 short stories,26 screenplays,hundreds of op-ed columns for Egyptian newspapers,and seven plays over a 70-year career,from the 1930s until 2004. All of his novels take place in Egypt,and always mentions the lane,which equals the world. His most famous works include The Cairo Trilogy and Children of Gebelawi. Many of Mahfouz's works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films;no Arab writer exceeds Mahfouz in number of works that have been adapted for cinema and television. While Mahfouz's literature is classified as realist literature,existential themes appear in it.
The Cairo Trilogy is a trilogy of novels written by the Egyptian novelist and Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz,and one of the prime works of his literary career.
Denys Johnson-Davies was an eminent Arabic-to-English literary translator who translated,inter alia, several works by Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz,Sudanese author Tayeb Salih,Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwish and Syrian author Zakaria Tamer.
Reem Bassiouney is an Egyptian author,professor of sociolinguistics and Chair Department of Applied Linguistics at The American University in Cairo. In Addition,Bassiouney is the editor of the Routledge Series of Language and Identity. She is also the editor and creator of the journal Arabic Sociolinguistics Edinburgh. She has written several novels and a number of short stories and won the 2009 Sawiris Foundation Literary Prize for Young Writers for her novel Dr. Hanaa. While a substantial amount of her fiction has yet to be translated into English,her novel The Pistachio Seller was published by Syracuse University Press in 2009,and won the 2009 King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Translation of Arabic Literature Award. Bassiouney also won Naguib Mahfouz Award from Egypt's Supreme Council for Culture in the best Egyptian novel category for her best selling novel,The Mamluk Trilogy. She was also the winner of the National Prize for Excellence in Literature of the year 2022 from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
Sasson Somekh was an Israeli academic,writer and translator. He was professor emeritus of Modern Arab Literature at Tel Aviv University.
The American University in Cairo Press is the leading English-language publisher in the Middle East.
The Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature is a literary award for Arabic literature. It is given to the best contemporary novel written in Arabic,but not available in English translation. The winning book is then translated into English,and published by American University in Cairo Press. It was first awarded in 1996 and is presented annually on December 11,the birthday of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz,by the President of the American University in Cairo.
Humphrey T. Davies was a British translator of Arabic fiction,historical and classical texts. Born in Great Britain,he studied Arabic in college and graduate school. He worked for decades in the Arab world and was based in Cairo from the late 20th century to 2021. He translated at least 18 Arabic works into English,including contemporary literature. He is a two-time winner of the Banipal Prize.
Latifa al-Zayyat was an Egyptian activist and writer,most famous for her novel The Open Door,which won the inaugural Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.
William Maynard Hutchins is an American academic,author and translator of contemporary Arabic literature. He was formerly a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University in Boone,North Carolina.
Frances E. Liardet is a writer and translator of Arabic literature. She studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. She has translated several book-length works,including two books by the modernist Egyptian writer Edwar al-Kharrat and one by Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz.
Somaya Yehia Ramadan is an Egyptian academic,translator and writer. She was born in Cairo in 1951 and studied English at Cairo University. Subsequently,she obtained a PhD in English from Trinity College,Dublin in 1983. Somaya Ramadan is an Egyptian Baha'i who has written a book expounding on the principles of the faith published by Madbouli to clarify and correct the misunderstandings amongst many who have not been informed from the correct sources.
Edwar al-Kharrat was an Egyptian novelist,writer and critic.
Adel Esmat is an Egyptian novelist who was born in 1959. He published a collection of short stories named Fragments and nine novels including Days of the Blue Windows,published in 2009,which was awarded the State Prize for Incentive for Novels in 2011. Whereas,his novel Tales of Yusuf Tadrus,which was published in 2015,won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2016 and later the American University of Cairo published an English translation of the novel.
Velvet is an Arabic language novel by Palestinian author Huzama Habayeb published in 2016. The book won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2017. The novel depicts several Palestinian women experiencing tragic love stories under the compelling circumstances and within the ultraconservative community of Baqa'a refugee camp in Jordan.
Roger Allen is an English scholar of Arabic literature. He was the first student at Oxford University to obtain a PhD degree in modern Arabic literature,which he did under the supervision of Muhammad Mustafa Badawi. His doctoral thesis was on Muhammad al-Muwaylihi’s narrative Hadith Isa ibn Hisham,and was later published as a book titled A Period of Time. At the request of Dr Gaber Asfour,the Director-General of the Supreme Council for Culture in Egypt,he later prepared an edition of the complete works of Muhammad al-Muwaylihi (2002),and that of his father,Ibrahim al-Muwaylihi (2007).
Fawzia Abd Al-Minem Al-Ashmawi is an Egyptian academic,writer and translator. She works as a Professor of Arabic Literature and Islamic Civilisation in the University of Geneva. She had won the Golden Award in Sciences and Arts from Egypt.
Samia Mehrez is an Egyptian professor of contemporary literature,literary critic,and researcher,who was born on 1 January 1955. She is President of the Center for Translation Studies at the American University in Cairo. Mehrez has played a major role in publishing articles on translation,contemporary Arab literature,post-colonial studies and various cultural topics.
Fatma Moussa Mahmoud,is an Egyptian academic,translator,and literary critic.
Sugar Street,first published in 1957,is the third novel in the Cairo Trilogy by Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz. In this third novel,the main character Kamal,the youngest son of Ahmad 'Abd al-Jawad who is a young child in the first and a student in the second,is a teacher.
