Mohamed Mustagab (1938–2006) was an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

novelist and short story writer.

Early life

He was born in the town of Dayrut in

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

. He had little formal education and was involved in the construction of the

Aswan High Dam The Aswan Dam, or Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, surpassing the Chatug ...

in the 1960s. He eventually turned to journalism and writing, and rose to the position of director at the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo.

Career

As a writer, he published his first short story in the pages of ''al-Hilal'' magazine in 1968. He published several volumes of fiction, including novels and short stories. His most noted work is ''The Secret History of Numan Abd al-Hafiz'' (1984). This short novel won the Egyptian State Incentive Award and was selected as one of the top 100 Arabic novels by the

Arab Writers Union The Arab Writers Union (ar.: اتحاد الكتاب العرب) is an association of Arab writers, founded in 1969, in Damascus, Syria, at the initiative of a group of Arab writers including Syrian novelist Hanna Mina. In 2008, the union was mo ...

. It has been translated into English by Humphrey T. Davies, and was included in ''Tales of Dayrut'' (

AUC Press The American University in Cairo Press (AUCP, AUC Press) is the leading English-language publisher in the Middle East. The largest translator of Arabic literature in the world, AUC Press has a reputation for carefully selecting and translating t ...

, 2008), the only book-length work by Mustagab available in English translation. It was also turned into a play and staged in

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 ...

in 2001.

References

1938 births 2006 deaths Egyptian male short story writers Egyptian journalists 20th-century Egyptian novelists 20th-century Egyptian short story writers 20th-century Egyptian male writers People from Asyut Governorate 20th-century Egyptian journalists {{Egypt-writer-stub