Edwar al-Kharrat (born 16 March 1926) is an Egyptian novelist, writer and critic.[1] He was born in Alexandria to a Coptic Christian family. He studied law at Alexandria University and worked briefly in finance and insurance. He was also actively engaged in left-wing politics and spent two years in jail from 1948-50. He moved to Cairo in the mid-1950s where he worked for a time as a translator at the Romanian embassy.[2]

al-Kharrat has been described as "one of Egypt's most influential fiction writers"[3] and "one of the most important writers in the Arab world".[4] He was a leading figure among the group of Egyptian writers known as the Sixties Generation, and founded and edited the literary journal Gallery 68, considered to be the mouthpiece of that generation.[5] In this role, al-Kharrat promoted and disseminated the works of such writers as Sonallah Ibrahim, Bahaa Taher, Ibrahim Aslan, Yahya Taher Abdullah, and Gamal al-Ghitani. He also had a lengthy association with the Afro-Asian Peoples’ Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO) and the Afro-Asian Writers’ Association, and edited Lotus, a journal of magazine of African and Arabic literature.

As a writer, his first book was a collection of short stories called High Walls, published in 1958/59. Two more volumes of stories came out in the 1970s. Also in 1979, his first novel Rama and the Dragon was published to widespread critical acclaim. A "daringly experimental" work, Rama has been called "a breakthrough for the Arab novel". [6] al-Kharrat himself described the novel as "untranslatable", although an English translation was completed by Ferial Ghazoul and John Verlenden and published by the AUC Press in 2002.[7] The Arab Writers Union ranked Rama at 8th in its list of the 100 best Arabic novels.[8]

al-Kharrat has won a number of prestigious literary awards including the Sultan al-Owais Prize (1996) and the Naguib Mahfouz Medal He was invited to St Antony's College Oxford in 1979 As a visiting scholar. He has participated in numerous cultural festivals including the London Literary Festival He has won major literary awards in the region, including the Sultan al-Owais Prize (1996) and the Naguib Mahfouz Medal.

Selected works

See also

References

  1. ^ Profile in the English PEN World Atlas
  2. ^ Profile in Arab World Books
  3. ^ "Edwar Al-Kharrat: poet of the Arabic novel", Al-Ahram Weekly, 28 Feb-5 Mar 2008
  4. ^ "Edwar al-Kharrat and the Modernist Revolution in the Egyptian Novel", Al-Jadid magazine (Vol. 2, no. 9, July 1996)
  5. ^ The Arabic Novel by Hamdi Sakkut, translated by Roger Monroe, AUC Press, Cairo, Egypt, 2000, p.45
  6. ^ Al-Jadid, 1996
  7. ^ Rama and the Dragon, English translation by AUC Press, 2002
  8. ^ The Best 100 Arabic Books (According to the Arab Writers Union)
Categories