If sales figures and market assessments of the Egyptian book publishing industry are to be believed, then right now is pretty much the worst time for a young Egyptian author to try and break into the market, let alone for a group of young women to launch a new publishing company. Yet Inji Amr and her publishing house Saray have dared to accomplish both at the same time.
Last month saw a literary double debut when 27-year-old Amr’s “To Each Her Own” hit Egypt’s book shelves — not only as the author’s first book but also as Saray’s maiden publication.
And if initial indicators are anything to go by, the risk is paying off. In its first month of publication “To Each Her Own” has become Shorouk bookstores’ No. 2 bestseller, beaten to the top spot only by the international teenage-vampire phenomena “Twilight.”
Next stop will be the Frankfurt International Book Fair in October, the biggest book exposition in the world, where Amr’s book will be presented.
“It’s really doing quite well,” says publisher Sara Abou Bakr, who started Saray with her two sisters only a few months ago.
At first glance Amr’s tale appears reminiscent of the careers of several female Egyptian writers in recent years: she started with a diary, then moved on to blogging and finally ended up writing a book that is more or less biographical focusing on her personal daily experiences. Having attended an international school, she chose to write in English, because she felt more comfortable in the foreign language than in her native Arabic.
However this is where the similarities end. “To Each Her Own” is not about dating and relationship problems, it is not about feeling oppressed by society or about wanting to get married.
In fact, men hardly feature in her book.
“My friends and I felt that we couldn’t relate to any of the female figures portrayed in the Egyptian media. Our lives, our careers, what happens to us on a daily basis, appear to be things that people don’t seem to acknowledge exist,” says Amr, who works as an economist for a government agency.
Abou Bakr’s agrees. “Women are portrayed in a very irritating way in the media,” she says. “There is the type of woman dating several guys; there is urfi marriage or the religiously confused … there are many stereotypes. But the image of the many young Egyptian women that are driven and successful in their careers is disappearing.”
An imbalance that Amr’s book seeks to redress. Described as the “lost voice of middle class women in Egypt” she tells of moments and anecdotes in the lives of six young successful women, all of whom are members of what she calls the disappearing middle-class.
“There used to be a range of professions that led to a good lifestyle, like doctors, government employees, engineers,” Amr explains. “But with inflation and the cost of living going up and their salaries stagnating, many have fallen into a lower class segment economically. And some, of course, have become extremely wealthy.”
She is not shy to admit that “To Each Her Own” is not a novel but a document drawn from her own life that does not follow a classical storyline. Abou Bakr and Amr speak of snap shots, comparing the book to a sort of literary photo album.
Abou Bakr says that people who have read it say they love it because they can relate to the women portrayed. But perhaps it is also the realistic style of Amr’s writing that draws her readers, many of whom are around the same age as the author. “Someone recently had a line from my book as their Facebook status,” says Amr. “That really made my day.”
The subheading reads, “The East Wing Chronicles Vol.1,” begging the question whether a sequel is already in progress. Not really, says the author. But “I would very much like it if there was,” adds Abou Bakr.
For now though, the young publishers at Saray have enough work to do — with or without a sequel. Abou Bakr and her sisters are swamped with manuscripts, and “Little Pearls,” another English-language book by the new author Sarah Ayman, is about to be released, followed by two Arabic books, one a short story collection and another a play.
“It is great that publishing houses like Saray exist, that are willing to take a risk and publish young, new authors,” says Amr. Especially at times when bigger publishers take the safe route and stick with authors they know to be commercially successful, she adds.
“The most important thing is that you believe in the writer and the book and that the material is something you are proud of publishing,” says Abou Bakr. “Books will never go out of business. They might take a different form but they won’t disappear. And if the economy is down now, then this is the best time to start, because it will grow again.”
Amr, the economist, smiles.
Inji Amr will be signing copies of “To Each Her Own” at Diwan Bookstore’s Alexandria branch on Sept. 24 at 7 pm.
