Mohamed Salah El Azab (; born 19 September 1981) is 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 ...
writer and novelist.
Early life
He was born 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 ...
. He has published several novels and short story collections, and has won multiple awards for his fiction. He has been described by
Al-Ahram
''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
newspaper as "one of Egypt's rising literary talents".
Career
His first novel ''A Long Cellar with a Low Ceiling Making You Crouch'' was published from
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
in 2003. This was followed in 2007 by his second novel ''Repeated Stopping'', published by
Dar Merit. His third novel was ''The Italian's Bed'' and his fourth ''Sidi Barrani'', the latter published in 2010. He has also published a short story collection called ''Blue In a Sad Way'' (2003).
El Azab has won several literary awards, including:
* the Suad Al-Sabah Award for the Novel (Kuwait)
* the Egyptian Higher Council for Culture award for the short story in 1999 and 2004
* the Egyptian Higher Council For Culture award for the novel for 2004
El Azab's work appeared in English translation in
Banipal
''Banipal'' is an independent literary magazine dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Arab literature through translations in English. It was founded in London in 1998 by Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon. The magazine is published three ti ...
magazine in 2008. He was a participant in the inaugural
IPAF Nadwa
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction Nadwa is an annual writers' workshop for young writers from the Arab world. Held under the aegis of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (itself funded by the Emirates Foundation in Abu Dhabi), the ...
in 2009. Also in 2009-10, he was selected as one of the
Beirut39
Beirut39 is a collaborative project between the Hay Festival, Beirut UNESCO's World Book Capital 2009 celebrations, '' Banipal'' magazine and the British Council among others in order to identify 39 of the most promising Arab writers under the age ...
, a
Hay Festival
The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival (), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was d ...
project to highlight the most promising young writers in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
. He participated in the
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
Hay Festival in April 2010.
Jadaliyya
''Jadaliyya'' (" dialectic") is an independent ezine founded in 2010 by the Arab Studies Institute (ASI) to cover the Arab World and the broader Middle East. It publishes articles in Arabic, French, English and Turkish, and is run primarily o ...
magazine published a long interview with El Azab in 2011.
See also
*
List of Egyptian authors
This is a list of Egyptian writers.
A
* Abaza family
* Fekry Pasha Abaza (1896–1979)
* Aziz Pasha Abaza (1898–1973)
* Tharwat Abaza (1927–2002)
* Duaa Abdelrahman (1979–)
* Abdel Rahman El Abnudi (1938–2015)
* Ahmed Zaki Abu Sh ...
*
List of Egyptian writers
This is a list of Egyptian writers.
A
* Abaza family
* Fekry Pasha Abaza (1896–1979)
* Aziz Pasha Abaza (1898–1973)
* Tharwat Abaza (1927–2002)
* Duaa Abdelrahman (1979–)
* Abdel Rahman El Abnudi (1938–2015)
* Ahmed Zaki Abu Sh ...
External links
References
Novelists from Cairo
Egyptian male short story writers
1981 births
Living people
{{Egypt-writer-stub