Baheyya: Egypt Analysis and Whimsy بهيّة

An elderly couple get on each other’s nerves, bicker, and occasionally enjoy simple moments like eating homemade ta’amiyya together. Their q...

Ibrahim al-Desouqi Fahmi, Alabaster (2001) oil on canvas

Five years ago today, when Hosni Mubarak made his big announcement about direct, multicandidate presidential elections, he couldn’t have dre...

On 10 October, 2009, a luminous intellectual and gentle soul passed away. Felled by cancer at the age of 59, Mohamed El-Sayed Saïd was laid ...

Every summer, Egyptians ritualistically reflect on the July 23 revolution, going through the motions of enumerating its failures and accompl...

Bilal Fadl’s latest book has an attractive title and a laudable ambition. The irresistibly named The Original Inhabitants of Egypt: Stories ...

President Barack Obama made some stirring remarks yesterday about the suppression of popular protests against the election outcome in Iran....

Karima al-Hifnawy’s Diary of a Pharmacist (Dar al-Ain, 2008) is a work of quiet beauty and unusual restraint. Best known for her Kifaya and...

Zeinab al-Segeiny, untitled, oil on canvas

Like many others, I’ve been watching in disbelief as the Egyptian government enables the Israeli destruction of Gaza. This time, Hosni Mubar...

Sawsan Abu al-Naga, Cairene Houses (1988) oil on canvas

Mahmoud Said, The Reciter (1960)

Autobiography is my least favourite literary genre, too easily prone to posturing and self-exoneration, or else heavy woe-is-me tales about ...

When I read the sad news of Youssef Chahine’s passing, a stream of images from his films passed through my mind’s eye, fragmentary and disjo...