Rasheed El-Enany (born 1949) is an Egyptian literary scholar, who specializes in modern Arabic literature. He is Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature, and Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. He is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Exeter. [1]
An expert on the novels of Naguib Mahfouz, he delivered the Mahfouz Memorial Lecture at the American University in Cairo in 2009. [2]
His daughter is the legal scholar Nadine El-Enany.
Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer “who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind”. 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 mention 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 Journey of Ibn Fattouma is an intermittently provocative fable written and published by Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz in 1983. It was translated from Arabic into English in 1992 by Denys Johnson-Davies and published by Doubleday.
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.
Naguib Pasha Mahfouz is known as the father of obstetrics and gynaecology in Egypt and was a pioneer in obstetric fistula.
Bensalem Himmich is a Moroccan novelist, poet and philosopher with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Paris, who teaches at the Mohammed V University, Rabat. He served as Minister of Culture from 29 July 2009 to 3 January 2012.
Magdi Wahba (1925–1991) was an Egyptian university professor, Johnsonian scholar, and lexicographer.
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. Bassiouney won Sheikh Zaid Literature Award for her novel Al Halwani: The Fatimid Trilogy in 2024.
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.
Ibrahim Abdel Meguid is an Egyptian novelist and author. His best-known works form the "Alexandria Trilogy": No One Sleeps in Alexandria, Birds of Amber, and Clouds Over Alexandria. These have been translated into English and French.
Werner Mark Linz was a German-American publisher who specialised in educational and international publishing in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. He was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1935. He studied humanities at the University of Frankfurt and continued his education in the United States. In 1960 he moved permanently to New York and became a naturalised United States citizen.
The Mirage is a 1948 Egyptian novel by Naguib Mahfouz. The novel was filmed as al-Sarab by Anwar al-Shinawi. Mahfouz has said that it is a personal novel based on his upbringing. Novel translated to English by Nancy Roberts.
Roger Allen is an English scholar of Arabic literature. He has translated several Arabic works of literature into English, and has also written scholarly works on Arabic literature.
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, was an Egyptian academic, translator, and literary critic.
The 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind." He is the first and only Arabic–Egyptian recipient of the prize.