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.
Author
Various
Translator
Various
Thoraya El-Rayyes’ translations have appeared in literary journals/magazines, including World Literature Today and Banipal. In 2014 she received the Arkansas Arabic Translation Award for her translation of Hisham Bustani. Mohammed Ghalaieni was raised bilingually and schooled in Gaza from the age of ten, working on translation projects in New York and Gaza. Sarah Irving is the author and editor of several books, and teaches Arabic at the University of Edinburgh. Elisabeth Jaquette is a graduate student at Columbia University, regularly translates for journals/magazines, and has worked with the PEN World Voices Festival. Andrew Leber is based in Doha, and has translated excerpts of Syrian and Palestinian Literature, including Hani al-Rahib and Atef Abu Saif. Adam Talib teaches classical Arabic literature at the American University in Cairo, and is the translator of Fadi Azzam, Khairy Shalaby and Mekkawi Said, to name a few.
Published by
Comma Press, 2019
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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.