The Desert: Human Geography and Symbolic Economy
Alif 33
Edited by Ferial Ghazoul
This latest edition of the literary journal Alif focuses on the desert and how it is represented in all its forms in literature and art around the world. The desert has been described, used as a context and explored in myriads of ways by scholars of many disciplines; like the arts, literature, film, history, environmental studies and anthropology and Alif has combined all these different perspectives, approaches and reflections in this edition.
The journal includes contributors from all over the world, including Saeed Alwakeel, Saad El Bazei, Sharif Elmusa, Jehan Farouk, Naglaa Hassan, Abdullah Ibrahim, Salma Mobarak, Senayon Olaoluwa, Yasmine Ramadan, Nathalie Roman and Randa Sabry.
Private Pleasures
By Hamdy El-Gazzar
Translated by Humphrey Davies
A dark new novel from the author of Black Magic
Set in the hustle and bustle of Giza, Private Pleasures tells the story of three days of the life of the main character, a native newsreader, as he conducts a steamy affair with the wife of a brutal police officer. We follow his foray through the crumbling neighbourhood and meet a plethora of diverse characters that, together with the abundance of sex, drugs and alcohol the character indulges in, create a representation of the teeming contradictory mass of life in the city of millions.
Copts at the Crossroads
The challenges of building inclusive democracy in Egypt
Mariz Tadros
A detailed examination of Christian–Muslim relations in Egypt before and after the 2011 Revolution
With the current exacerbation of sectarian violence Tadros’ new book is very relevant. In Copts at the Crossroads the mass emigration of Copts from Egypt is examined and placed in the context of the region and other religious minorities and explores how the sectarian tension fits in the ideal of an inclusive democracy. Using both history and current fieldwork and data the author examines what is needed in society to ensure the inclusion of all in the new democratic system.
