Alaa Al Aswany


Alaa Al Aswany is an Egyptian writer, novelist, dentist and a founding member of the political movement Kefaya. He is based in Paris and New York, where he lives and teaches creative writing.

Early life and career

Alaa Al Aswany was born on 26 May 1957 in Cairo. His mother, Zainab, came from an aristocratic family; her uncle was a Pasha and Minister of Education before the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. His father, Abbas Al Aswany, was from Aswan and was a lawyer and writer who "is remembered as being a captivating and charismatic speaker with a broad following and loyalty within a cross-section of the Egyptian revolutionary intelligentsia". Abbas Al Aswany wrote a regular back-page essay entitled "Aswaaniyat" in the Egyptian weekly magazine Rose al-Yūsuf. In 1972, he was "the recipient of the state award for literature". He died when Al Aswany was 19 years old.
Al Aswany attended Le Lycée Français in Cairo and received a bachelor's degree in dental and oral medicine at Cairo University in 1980. He went on to pursue a master's degree in dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1985. He speaks Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. He studied Spanish literature in Madrid.
Al Aswany married his first wife in his early twenties. She was a dentist and they had a son, Seif. They later divorced. When he was 37, he married Eman Taymoor and they had two daughters, May and Nada.
He wrote a weekly literary critique entitled "Parenthetically" in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Sha'ab, and then became responsible for the culture page in the same newspaper. He wrote a monthly political article in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Nasseri and a weekly article in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Dustour. He also wrote a weekly article in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk. Following the revolution, he wrote a weekly article in Al-Masry Al-Youm on Tuesdays. His articles have been published in leading international newspapers such as New York Times">New York City">New York Times, Le Monde, El País, The Guardian, The Independent, and others.
His second novel, The Yacoubian Building, an ironic depiction of modern Egyptian society, has been widely read in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. His literary works have been translated into 37 languages, including Armenian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Castilian, Chinese, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. In 2006, The Yacoubian Building was adapted into "the biggest budget movie ever produced in Egypt". The The [Yacoubian Building (film)|movie] was screened at international film festivals and was a great success in Egypt. However, Al Aswany was banned from attending the premiere. The Yacoubian Building is one of a few movies that addresses social taboos and widespread governmental corruption in Egypt, such as the rigging of elections. In 2007, The Yacoubian Building was made into a television series of the same name. In fact, many intellectuals believe that this work played a crucial role in triggering revolutionary sentiments among the Egyptian people. Al Aswany claims that during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, many protesters approached him and said: "We are here because of what you wrote."
Chicago, a novel set in the city in which the author was educated, was published in January 2007 and his Automobile Club of Egypt was published in English in 2016.
Al Aswany's name has been included on the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World, issued by the in Amman, Jordan.
He was number one in the Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinkers list 2011.
Al Aswany participated in the Blue Metropolis literary festival in Montreal, June 2008 and April 2010, and was featured in interviews with the CBC programme Writers and Company.
In January 2015, the Gingko Library published Democracy is the Answer: Egypt's Years of Revolution, a collection of newspaper columns written by Al Aswany for Al-Masry Al-Youm between 2011 and 2014.
In 2018, Al Aswany published a novel titled Jumhuriyat ka'an, which takes place in the backdrop of the 2011 Revolution.
His latest novel, Ashgar Tamshi fi-alaskandaryia was published in 2024.

Political views

Al Aswany was in Tahrir Square each of the 18 days before Mubarak fell from power. He was one of the few prominent people to interview the Mubarak-appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik on an Egyptian channel. Shafik lost his temper under persistent grilling by the novelist and it was the first time for Egyptians to witness a ruler dressed down so severely by a civilian in public. Consequently, it is said that Shafik was fired by the SCAF.
Al Aswany supported the 2013 Coup d'état against the Muslim brotherhood-led government, stating that they were neither democratic. He said: "They are a group of terrorists and fascists." He compared then-elected president Morsi to deposed president Mubarak in terms of dictatorship and repression of freedoms.
In an interview with Robert Fisk in 2014, Al Aswany said "I think we must give the Sisi government a chance. People are terrorised", while acknowledging that Sisi is not a true democrat.
Since 2019, Al Aswany has been living in Paris and New York in self-exile after he was sued by the Egyptian government for "insulting the state".
In 2022, after exile and in the wake of publishing his new novel, Al Aswany stated in a CBC radio interview: "I'm quite sure the revolution will win and I believe the change has already happened... the future is on our side."
Al Aswany remains critical of the Egyptian government through his online lectures on his YouTube channel. He often states that "Democracy is the solution". He is also critical of other Middle Eastern regimes. Following the Gaza war, Al Aswany was highly critical of the government of Israel, calling for Liberation of Palestine, and the liberation of all the Middle East from tyranny and occupation.
Al Aswany often draws comparisons between the periods of the Kingdom of Egypt and the Republic of Egypt, criticizing the 1952 Free Officers movement as the source of most of the social and economic troubles in contemporary Egypt.

Novels

  • 1990: Awrāq ʾIṣṣām ʾAbd il-ʾĀṭī
  • 2002: ʿImārat Yaʾqūbiyān
  • 2007: Chicago
  • 2013: Nādī il-sayyārāt
  • 2018: Jumhuriyat ka'an
  • 2024: ''Ashgar Tamshi fi-alaskandaryia''

Short stories

  • 1990: Alladhī iqtarab wa raʾa
  • 1998: Jamʾiyat muntaẓirī il-zaʿīm
  • 2004: ''Nīrān sadīqa''

Articles

  • 2010: Li mā dhā lā yathūr il-Miṣriyūn
  • 2011: Hal nastaḥiqq il-dimuqrāṭiyya?
  • 2011: Miṣr ʿalā dikkat il-iḥṭiyāṭy
  • 2012: Hal akhṭaʾat il-thawra il-Miṣriyya?
  • 2014: Kayf naṣnaʾ il-diktātūr?
  • Since November 2013, Al Aswany has been writing a monthly opinion column for the International Herald Tribune/New York Times.

English translations

Awards