‘Alaa Al Aswany’

The work of Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany is essential for anyone who wants to find out more about the real modern-day Egypt. He became world famous with The Yacoubian Building (2002). The novel broke social and religious taboos and touched on the corruption of the Mubarak regime. The bestseller was translated into 31 languages and made into a successful film of the same name.

As a columnnist, Al Aswany has spent years criticising the regime and he proved to be a key figure in the Arab Spring. During the Egyptian revolution in 2011 he stood on Tahrir Square every day in support of the protest. His book of short stories Friendly Fires and his collection of columns On the State of Egypt were a convincing way of bringing the reader face to face with the Egyptian reality.

On 21 May Al Aswany will be at BOZAR to speak, among other topics, about Extrémisme religieux et dictature (Actes Sud, 2014). His latest book continues to emphasise the importance of a democratic Egypt, and how the religious fascism of contemporary Islamic movements stands in the way of this dream. The discussion will be led by Xavier Luffin, professor of Arabic language and literature at ULB.