Abdel Hakim Qasem ( alternate transliteration: Abd al-Hakim Qasim) (1934–1990) is considered one of the most significant authors in

Egyptian literature Egyptian literature traces its beginnings to ancient Egypt and is some of the earliest known literature. Ancient Egyptians were the first to develop written literature, as inscriptions or in collections of papyrus, precursors to the modern boo ...

during the past thirty years. Judith Caesar of the

American University of Sharjah The American University of Sharjah (AUS; Arabic: الجامعة الأميركية في الشارقة) is a private university in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 1997 by Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, Supreme Council Member a ...

wrote that Qasem was "relatively little-known".Caesar, Judith (

). "Book Reviews." '' Edebiyât'', 2003, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 251–268 (content related to this book: 253-255). ISSN 0364-6505 print; ISSN 1477-2841 online/02/020251-18.

Taylor & Francis Ltd Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 Research and Dovepress. It is a division of In ...

, DOI: 10.1080/0364650032000143283. Cited page: 253.

Biography

He was born in Al Bandara village, near

Tanta Tanta ( ' ) is a city in Egypt. Tanta had a population of 658,798 in 2018, making it the fifth most populous city in Egypt. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Gove ...

. During the 1950s he moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, and began writing until the 1960s when he was imprisoned for four years, for his political associations, by the

Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

government. He lived in exile in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

from 1974 until 1985. He then came back to Cairo, where he died in 1990. He wrote five novels, four novellas, five short story collections, and one play.

Partial bibliography

Novels

*''Ayyam Al-Insan Al-Sab'a'' (The Seven Days of Man) *''Qadar Al-Ghoraf Al-Muqbida'' (The Destiny of Stifling Rooms), 1982 *'' Rites of Assent: Two Novellas'', translated by

Peter Theroux Peter Christopher Sebastian Theroux (born 1956) is an American translator and writer. The younger brother of writers Alexander Theroux and Paul Theroux, during college Peter studied for a year at the University of Cairo. He became interested in A ...

, introduction by

Samia Mehrez Samia Mehrez (Arabic: سامية محرز) 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 i ...

. Temple University Press, 1995.

Biography

Partial bibliography

Novels

References

Further reading