POLITICAL CRISIS AND YEMENS

LITERARY RESURGENCE
Published on 23 March 2015 in Report
Fareed Al-Homaid (author), Shannon Mckimmin (author)

By drawing on the past while breaking from tradition, many of Yemens writers appear to be searching for
answers and forging new paths in reaction to the countrys current crisis.

I have sold hundreds of novels since last Junenot world literature

masterpieces, but ones written by Yemeni authors. Do you believe that?! said
Abduljabar Al-Attoani, owner of Abu Thaar Bookstore in the capital Sanaa.
Despite ongoing political and economic turmoil, national literature saw an
unexpected surge in 2014. Twenty novels were published by Yemeni authors
last year, and while that figure may seem insignificant in a regional or global
context, it is considerably more than the eight books produced the previous
year. Indeed, it is about ten percent of all the books ever published by Yemeni
writers, and considering the hardships facing the country today it is an
extraordinary achievement.
The Yemeni novel in history
Ahmed Al-Sakkafs Qarots Girl, published in 1927, is considered modern
Yemens first work of fiction. Since then, a mere two-hundred books by
Yemeni writers are thought to have been published. Until the publication of
Mohammed Abdulwalis celebrated work They Die Strangers in 1971, marking
the beginning of popular literature in Yemen, just eight books were produced.
Abdulwalis masterpiece, a collection of 30 short stories translated into several
languages, introduced Yemeni literature to the world for the first time. His
reputation was sealed a year later with the publication of Sanaa: An Open

City, which looked at the history of North Yemen before the 1962 revolution
and is considered one of the greatest Arabic novels of the 20th century.
Abdulwalis popularity signaled a flourishing of literature in the 1970s and
1980s, and brought renewed attention to lesser-known works as well,
including Qat Kills Us (1969) and The Victim of Avarice (1970) by Yemens first
female novelist, Ramzia Al-Iryani. Only Zaid Mutee Dammajs The
Hostage (1984) would match the success of Abdulwalis novels, but works
produced in those years established Yemens literary tradition and continue to
define it today.
Development and greater access to printing houses saw an increase in
literary output in the 1990s, but low levels of literacy and a lack of government
support has made it difficult for writers to find success within Yemen, all the
more so given the countrys political climate in more recent years.
Abdulmalik Al-Qattaa, the general manager of the Copyright and Related
Rights Department at the Ministry of Culture, says government support for
writers and other artists ground to a halt soon after the 2011 uprising.
Two or three years ago we used to print books by Yemeni writers for free but
its no longer possible to provide that kind of support. The ministry cant even
print its own publications, like our Al-Eklil and Culture magazines, he said.
Before political turmoil and dwindling resources forced an end to government
aid, support for writers also came from the ministrys Heritage and Cultural
Development Fund, which would purchase up to a hundred books by Yemeni
authors and distribute them at public libraries, schools and book fairs.
Novelists themselves, who are forced to look abroad if they wish to have their
work released by a reputable publishing house, will also point to a lack of
development in the private sector. Gamal Hasan, whose book Memory's
Insects was released by Lebanese publishing house Difaf last year, says the
greatest difficulty facing new Yemeni writers is finding someone to publish
their work.
Working with local publishers, who have little knowledge of marketing and
sales, gets a writer nowhere. Novelists want to see the reactions of their
readers and critics, but thats not going to happen if one works with Yemeni
publishers, he said.

History in the Yemeni novel

As sales at the Abu Thaar bookstore indicate, Al-Attoani is convinced locally
produced literature offers an untapped market. Demand has increased, he
thinks, because there are more choices available and novelists are receiving
greater attention in local media.
Yemeni readers want books about their country and issues they can relate
to, he said. Many of my customers come to the store looking for Yemeni
novels regardless of the author, they just want to read something about their
own society.
Hatim Al-Azazi, a 28-year-old English literature graduate, thinks Yemeni fiction
has gained in popularity because the quality of writing has improved in recent
years and moved away from the social realism that has long defined literature
throughout the Arab world. What is good about the new generation of authors
in Yemen is that they are rebelling against the superficial and dull style of
traditional writers and have embraced more interesting and complex themes,
he said.
Some of those themes include topics many conservative Yemenis find
controversial, such as religion and gender equality, but Al-Azazi is hopeful that
younger generations will embrace the change and support young writers in
the country.
Whatever their differences, this new generation of writers have their
predecessors, both within Yemen and across the region, to draw upon and
respond to in their works. Reem Wajih, a 28 year-old English teacher in Taiz,
says young writers today would not be able to forge a new path without the
work of traditional novelists like Habib Sorori, Ahmed Zain and Ali Al-Maqri.
The large number of books being published today, which is actually small
compared to other countries, is thanks to the achievements of traditional
Yemeni and Arabic novelists. Young authors see that as an encouragement for
writing, she said.
However, in understanding why Yemeni literature is seeing such
unprecedented demand and output, themes evident in contemporary works
may offer the clearest insights. Political crisis, history and questions of identity
feature prominently in much of the work being produced today.

Marwan Ghaforys Saadas Braids, Mohammed Algharbi Amrans The

Revolutionist, and Habib SororisSoslofs Daughter are but some of the novels
dealing with conflict and revolution in Yemen today, while books like Ali AlMuqris Adeni Incense look further back to Adens cosmopolitan past.
Others, like Samir Abdulfattahs Adjacency: Another Life, or Safa'a AlHabals My Destiny is a Butterfly, address ones relationship with society and
the position of more marginalized groups like women. All of these themes may
be viewed through the prism of revolution and conflict, creating a social milieu
that stimulates reflection and artistic creativity whatever part of the world it is
happening in.
Hasan, author of Memory's Insects, thinks political and economic instability in
Yemen and the wider region are the main drivers behind Yemens literary
revival. What the country is going through gives writers a will to write. They
try to reflect on what is happening around them within their works.
Hasan believes social conflict and struggle provide the ideal environment for
literature. Novels portray peoples everyday lives, not normal or happy ones
but lives that are full of sorrows and difficulties. Take Russia as an example:
Unlike the advanced West, Russia became a dominant country in literature
during the second half of the 20th century despite the miserable economic
situation it was in.
Al-Azazi points to the wider Arab Spring as a starting point for todays surge in
creativity, and indeed it has been recognized as such throughout the Middle
East and North Africa. Notions of freedom and revolution that took root in 2011
have since been overshadowed by a sense of impasse and arrested
development, however, and this setback ties contemporary works into longstanding themes evident in much of 20th century Arabic literature.
The new generation of Yemeni writers, and their growing readership,
represent an attempt to come to terms with political and social crisis. In
looking to recent history, and in combing new and old themes, novelists are
searching both for a way forward and for a sense of identity. Ongoing political
turmoil may not bode well for Yemen, but if 2014 is any indication, the outlook
for its national literary scene is a promising one.

The renowned Yemeni novelist, Ali al-Muqri was a guest speaker atHeinrich-Bll Stiftung (A
German Foundation catering of green political movement worldwide) in berlin, Germany, last
7th June, where he spoke about a range of issues related to politics and culture of Yemen.

The seminar started by al-Muqri reading an extract from his winning novel of the top award of
the International Prize for Arabic Fiction "The Handsome Jew" and he briefly spoke about what
writing means to him and to what extent it is related to freedom.
Afterwards, he openly expressed his interesting view on the Yemeni political activist and Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate 2011, Tawakkol Karamn. "I lament her absence from her political activism.
Currently, she is only flying around the world and meeting presidents and ambassaders but she
should have continued her struggle on the ground," al-Muqri says.. "Over all, I think, the Nobel
Peace prize was truly intended to be given to all women who tried to librate themselves and call
for political liberty. I must say that I feel really sorry for how women were strained afterwards by
islamists and anti-revolution people," adds al-Muqri.
He says that over the past 5 decades, Arabs have produced the most inspiring song or poem that
is, "The people want the downfall of the regim." "We were oppressed and had not even the least
right of freedom of expression, now we are in the process to gain that right," he says.
He says that he can't predict how things would be around the region in the future but he stresses
on the mechanism of the post-revolution process. "I believe that it's very important to dismantle
the system/regime and not only topple the regime. Without dismantling the previous regime
that exists at throughout the whole country; from the east till the west, the north till the south,
there will no be any benefit from just toppling the regime," explains al-Muqri.
When al-Muqri is asked about the literature's role in the revolution .. , he humorously answers,
"I'm an old fashion when it comes to my understanding of politics and its relation to literature,
since I mainly read history .. with the revolution we witnessed the emerge of streets/public arts
but it needs to be documented. We need deep literature to capture details with insightful literary
approach. Additionally, literature has to have space from any power like political and
ideological. Literature has also to question everything," al-Muqri concludes.

Hisham Matar and Ali Al-Muqri on Writing

During a Revolution
BY MLYNXQUALEY ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 ( 3 )

By Jennifer Sears
The International Peace Institute at the United Nations in New York City inaugurated its Arab
Intellectual Series this past week with a panel featuring Libyan novelist Hisham Matar and
Yemeni novelist Ali Al-Muqri. The series aims to explore the role of Arab intellectuals, in
particular novelists and poets, active in revolutionary events taking place throughout the Arab
world.
Moderator Abdullah Alsaidi, a Senior Fellow at IPI, opened Thursdays event suggesting that
what the West has termed the Arab Spring could be more accurately termed the Revolution of
Expectations. He then called on both writers to speak about their roles as writers.

Hisham Matar: Dictators, like Authors, create narratives

Matar responded first by identifying the threat a writer and literature pose to an oppressive
regime. Both have the potential to be wild and cant be easily controlled. Writers, he said,
hold up mirrors to regimes. He provocatively suggested that dictators, like writers, cant exist
without creating narrative and story. To illustrate, Matar recalled videos hed seen as a child in
Libya, strategically alternating Gaddafis story with Mussolinis. The dictator creates narrative in
an attempt to rewrite history, to control, and to create intolerance for the other whereas the
writers narrative impulse is fueled by desire to understand the other and to explore conflicted
identities.
Dictatorships, he said, are hard on novelists. Writers pose a threat because they are rebellious,
cant be controlled, and provide the music of discontent. A wonderful country stands out of the
way of its artists.

Regarding his role as a writer, Matar stated that the uprisings in Libya and its surroundings have
created an opportunity for Libyans and the international community to better understand the
world. People actively seek out his response. Throughout the afternoons discussion, Matar
returned to the importance of re-establishing an honest cultural mythology. During times of such
change, people need the arts. They remember the value of literature.

Ali al-Muqri: Good literary work promotes tolerance

Al-Muqris opening statement began with a description of Yemens previous regime.* In AlMuqris view, the revolution in Libya represented the Fall of Imagination: the failure of the
regimes lies, the failure of the regimes control of opinions, and the ultimate failure of false
elections. This failure of the regimes means possibility for unity and an opportunity for people to
see what they have in common even as their illusions of freedom are falling.

Al-Muqri referenced his first book, Black Taste, Black Smell, which
encouraged protest in southern Yemen where people live in destitute conditions and are
marginalized by a government that refuses to acknowledge them. His recent novel,The
Handsome Jew, features a female protagonist who falls in love with the handsome Jew,
symbolizing, in his view, a call for a new nation, rather than a mere revision of the same
nation. Like Matar, Al-Muqri suggested that promoting tolerance and the desire to understand the
other is a necessary part of any literary work of merit.
An audience member asked to what extent writers motivated or insinuated the youth with ideas,
given the previous regimes level of censorship.
Matar responded by recounting his experience in a makeshift newsroom he created with
colleagues in England after the uprising in Libya started. They made daily calls receiving
reportage from young eye-witnesses. He noted that all participants took the task of presenting
their own experience seriously, whether the viewer was a lawyer or a member of the public.
Previously, documenting such events would have been impossible. The desire to publically

connect through personal narrative represents a drastic change in direction and, during difficult
hours, gave participants a sense of sanity and routine.
Jose Vericat of the International Peace Institute asked how foreign presence might influence or
change the publically instigated revolutions in Libya and Yemen.
Instead of predicting an outcome, Hisham Matar reflected back, stating that historically, the West
helped the Gaddafi regime squeeze its people. The implication was that Western governments
believed the more they engaged with the corrupt regime, the more reform could be encouraged, a
system that obviously never worked. Over time, people grew angry and cynical watching
respectable countries treating their oppressors with respect. Returning to the importance of
freedom of expression, Matar asserted that writers from Libya now feel connected to the outside
world. He hopes this connection continues, and that the foreign presence will recognize the
countrys emerging society and dialogue.
Another questioner asked about the audiences each writer envisions for his work and to address
the idea of language. She pointed out that Al-Muqri writes in Arabic and Matars fiction is
written in English and translated into Arabic.

Al-Muqri said he receives letters from throughout the Arab world responding
to the impact his work has had on their lives, in particular, the black population in Yemen treated
as outsiders. In his recent novel, The Handsome Jew, he stated that some of his readers
misinterpreted the narrative as a response to the modern conflict between Arabs and Jews and a
statement on the conflict in Palestine. In Al-Muqris view, the effect of literature and of a writers
work is cumulative and must inspire opinion among its audience.
Matar responded that a writer who enables a reader to feel empathy for someone different has
made a radical act. People forget this, he said. Addressing the topic of language, he asserted that
in fiction, English affords him more distance and courage to write about what obsesses him.
Using a second language offers restraint and necessary calm. He remarked that oppressive

regimes use brutality to force writers voices either into silence or into a state of such anger, no
one wants to listen. In the writers work, maintaining calm can be an act of resistance.

The Q&A: How did writers participate in revolution?

In a response to a question about how writers and artists have participated collectively during
recent events, Al-Muqri stated that in Yemen, collective artistic expression continues to be part of
the revolution in its many phases. In the main square, artists created drawings, wrote newspaper
articles, organized musical activities, and on Facebook and cell phones, circulated satirical songs
and video montages.
Matar responded that one of the most glorious moments of the revolution for him was seeing the
50,000 people who took over Benghazi sing word for word, a five-page poem written by a
contemporary poet. Referring back to the threat writers pose to dictators, he noted that in 1977,
the Gaddafi regime held a mock literary festival. All of the writers who participated were thrown
in jail. In the past, when those writers came to London, they wouldnt speak of their
imprisonment, but since the uprisings, they arent afraid to speak in London about that
experience. Gaddafis obsessive control of narrative extended to the Egyptian government, which
was pressured to ban books and materials critical of the Gaddafi regime. Matar said that in
Egypt, his childhood friends would tiptoe around the subject of his fathers disappearance,
which became a silent room in their friendship. Such subjects can now be openly discussed.
For artists and citizens, the potential for freedom has revitalized cultural life and artistic
possibility.
A young activist from Libya asked the writers their views on the selective response from the UN
and international society regarding which countries receive attention and financial aid. Hisham
Matar acknowledged this disparity but responded that all parties should see these events as an
invitation to maturity. For those within these actively changing societies, these uprisings have
resulted in an anxiety about the future. In Matars opinion, this anxiety is revelatory and
represents an important shift. With the old regime, he, like others, always knew exactly what to
expect. Living with anxiety and learning to continue with not knowing is a sign of a maturing
society. For the West, these events offer an invitation to maturity through an opportunity to
revise how it views Libya and its citizens. For the first time in centuries, Matar stated
importantly, the West is looking to the East for examples of liberation and how to act toward
change.
Al Muqri responded to the questioner with the statement that the protests in Yemen shattered the
idea that cultures can exist without free contact with the other or the outside.

A final questioner asked both writers to define the talent or genius of the people involved in
the revolution. Al-Muqri stated the genius that lies behind recent events has been made evident
through the collective work of activists in Yemen, particularly those of varying ideologies, who
in the past have been polarized. He stated this result will have lasting effect though he is not
optimistic that the remnants of the old regime who still maintain power will peacefully step
down.
Matar remarked that the genius of his people was evidenced by their audacious acts of courage
and bravery that resulted in the end of a militant 40-year rule. As the Gaddafi regime shamelessly
attacked mosques and raped citizens of both genders, the genius of the young people continued,
even when faced with death. Citing the numerous committees and magazines that have emerged
since the revolution, he said people have been waiting forty years to be heard. Genius lies
beneath the hunger for life that remains even after one of the most intense dictatorial projects
the world has seen.
*Note: This summary relies on simultaneous translation.

Hurma New Yemeni Novel for Autumn 2015

March 5, 2015darf

Denied her voice, even the freedom to ask questions, alMuqris ill-fated heroine remains nameless. As a female
she is simply a Hurma literally sanctity, an entity to
be protected from violation. Growing up in the stifling and
oppressive atmosphere of her childhood home in the
Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Hurmas story intersects with
those of her elder siblings, Lula and Abd al-Raqeeb. Lulas
overt sexuality is a foil to Hurmas staunch conservatism.
For Lula sex offers a form of resistance and empowerment,
although one that will ultimately result in her destruction.
In contrast, their brother, Abd al-Raqeeb undergoes an
overnight transformation from an avowed socialist,
contemptuous of his fathers piety, to a religious

extremist; a conversion triggered by sexual jealously over

his new wife.
Hurmas passionless marriage to a man whose impotency is a
cruel reflection of her inability to shape her reality, is the first in a
catalogue of farcical disappointments. She journeys across the
Middle East: from Yemen to a militant training camp in Sudan and
onto Afghanistan to join the Jihadist cause. On her eventual return
home, ever crueller twists of fate await her as her search for
spiritual and sexual fulfilment leads to disastrous consequences.
Turning the classic coming of age story on its head, Ali al-Muqris
fresh and darkly humorous narrative takes an irreverent swipe at
the profound hypocrisy that hides behind fanatical religious
dogma. With its confessional tone, Hurmas direct and unflinching
account is as painful as it is comic.
Ali al-Muqri is a Yemeni writer born in 1966. He has worked in
cultural journalism since 1985. He has published eight books
including Black Taste, Black Odour which was longlisted for the
International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2009. Some of his works
have been translated into English, German, French and Spanish.
He has participated in several literary Arabic and international
festivals. His latest novel, The Handsome Jew, has been longlisted
for the 2011 Prize.
Thomas Aplin was born in England in 1979. He has a first class
bachelors degree in Arabic and is currently pursuing a PhD on the
Saudi novel at the University of Edinburgh. His love for
contemporary Arabic fiction was kindled by the novels of the
celebrated author, Abdelrahman Munif, which he read as an
undergraduate during a year spent studying in Damascus. In
addition to contributing to publications such as The Caravan,
Banipal Magazine and the International Prize for Arabic Fiction
(IPAF), Thomas is involved in a number of cultural projects across
the Gulf region. Researching heritage traditions with a hope to

promote their preservation, he has a particular interest in Nabati

poetry and folktales.
Hurma will be released on October 1st 2015 by Darf Publishers.

Ali al-Mugri's The Handsome Jew:

Yemeni Novelist vs. Arab Ideology
Valentina Colombo / Feb 01, 2011
Last year the Yemeni writer and intellectual Ali al-Muqri published his new novel with one of the
most important publishers in the Arab world, the Lebanese Dar al-Saqi. Al-Muqri is known in the
Arab world for his elegant style (he is a poet as well); for his research on the past of the Arabs;
and for his engagement in favor of minorities in his country. His previous novel, Black Taste,
Black Smell, on the condition of a group marginalized in Yemen because of their dark skin, was
very well received by the Arab public. It seems, though, that with his last novel, al-Muqri did
something wrong, at least as far as its title and its subject are concerned.
The Handsome Jew tells the story of Fatima, the educated daughter of a mufti, who falls in love
with a Jew. Set in seventeenth century Yemen, the novel addresses the issue of tolerance
towards other religions and social classes a hundred pages in which the author said he just
wanted "to reveal a memory in the form of an intimate love story that goes beyond dislike and
class hatred between two religions." No ideology, no political hints; but this was not sufficient to
avoid strong criticism from all sides. You only need to have a quick look at reviews of the novel
and interviews with its author in Arab newspapers, satellite channels and websites and you will
immediately realize that "The Handsome Jew" has never been regarded as a literary work.
Ali al-Muqri, for instance, in an interview with the Kuwaiti daily al-Awan, was asked: "Why did
you chose to write a novel whose main character is a Jew and why did you choose "The
Handsome Jew as a title?", and: "Is the aim of your novel to 'enlighten' the image of the Jew at
a time when Jews kill Palestinians in occupied territories?", and: "Are you trying with your novel
to draw a distinction between the Arab Jew and the Jew who has destroyed the world to turn
Palestine into his country?" Even the interview on al-Jazeera's website contains questions like,
"Your novel tells about the love between a Muslim girl and a Jew; don't you fear a political
lecture over it in the shadow of the Arab-Israeli conflict?"

These questions clearly demonstrate that there is no way to write about the Jews in the Arab
world without being boycotted, or at least without problems. In another review of al-Muqri's novel
you can read: "[] the beginning of the book is acceptable, where Muslims are described as
tolerant while Jews are not but then the novel becomes unbearable, mainly because Jews seem
strangely ready to get on good terms with others. This is something that in contemporary history
they are not able to do. In the novel, Muslims oppress Jews; they steal lands and belongings so
that the Jews are compelled to fly to Jerusalem. Some passages of the novel seem to show that
al-Muqri went for a fanciful justification for the Israeli occupation of Palestine; he even dared to
look for it in the Koran."
Anyone who knows Ali al-Muqri, even only through his writings, cannot have any doubt about
the fact that he is an honest intellectual and a true free- thinker, as he has clearly shown in his
essay, "Liquor and Wine in Islam" (2007), in which he suggested, after an analytical research
into Islamic culture, that alcohol might not be prohibited in Islam -- incurring the rage of Muslim
clerics.
As far as The Handsome Jew is concerned, al-Muqri retains his intellectual honesty. The novel
follows a deep study of Jews in Yemen, which, as the author says, "has lost many of its Jews
because of its supremacism. The Jews used to be part of the country's identity." The novel was
apparently a way for him to recover a lost memory, a lost identity: the novel, he wrote, was "a
deep excavation into human suffering."
Besides this, he appears to be to be one of the few Arab intellectuals free of any ideology. When
asked about the chance of a translation of the novel into Hebrew, al-Mugri, unlike many of his
colleagues, wonders "why many of the Arab authors refuse to translate their works into
Hebrew," and goes even farther when he reminds them that Averroes "who was charged with
being an infidel and whose books in Arabic were burned. It was his books translated into Arabic
that survived." This is the reason he does not understand why Arabic literature should not be
translated, as long it passes through "safe channels." A safe channel could be the small Israeli
publisher, al-Andalus; it would be so valuable if al-Muqri's dream to be translated into Hebrew
will become true.
It would be valuable as well if The Handsome Jew, about to be translated into Italian by
Piemme, and into French by Editions Lvy, could also be translated into English, so that one of

the most important and decent voices of the Arab world could reach a bigger audience. It would
be such a gift if such a deep and lucid look into a world that is now lost -- that of the Yemeni
Jewish community -- were available to as many people as possible so that we could help a true
intellectual who is still living in a country where a simple and beautiful work of fiction -- and free
thoughts -- can threaten your life.
Disclaimer: The articles published on this site represent the view of their writers.

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BY THE RIVER NILE: Mansoura Ezeldin. Photo: Randa Shaath

CHALLENGING COMPLACENCIES: Ali Al Muqri. Photo: Special Arrangement

human interest
people

Egyptian writer Mansoura Ezeldin and Yemeni poet and novelist Ali Al Muqri hail
from a region known for repressive regimes and rocked recently by people's upheavals
for change. In New Delhi as panellists at The Hindu Lit for Life conclave, they talk to
SUBASH JEYAN on what it means to be a writer, to engage in their own different
ways with the issues important to them...
'We need more revolutions'
Writing is a way to freedom and a weapon against the many injustices in society. Yet, she insists, a
writer is not a mere spokesperson for his/her nation or people. Meet Mansoura Ezeldin.
Tell us about your work with Akhbar al-Adab... and the contemporary literary scene in
Egypt today
I was the book review editor at Akhbar al-Adab literary newspaper till last month. I have taken a
year off to finish my new novel because I wanted to devote all my time to writing. The contemporary

literary scene in Egypt is really rich. Since 2002, we've been having a flourishing period; many
bookstores have opened and many independent publishers support daring experimental writing, and
we have a good readership compared to the 1980s and 90s. Egyptian literature, especially that
written by the new generation, is daring and breaches many taboos and also beautifully written at the
same time.
How are contemporary women writers in Egypt contributing to social change? What
are some of their predominant concerns?
Egyptian women in general were in the forefront of demonstrations during the revolution. And many
Egyptian women writers were with them. Women writers also play an important role through their
novels and essays and columns in newspapers. There are many female political and social activists
who are fighting now for a secular, democratic country. Many of them, including myself, don't want
the Muslim Brotherhood or the Salafists to come to power. Because a possible victory of the Muslim
Brotherhood will worsen Egyptian women's position as they have a backward, negative image of
women. But I'm not afraid of them. Fear gets you nowhere. We're fighting a battle for building a new
democratic country and in such a battle fear is the worst enemy.
How consciously are you working in your novels against stereotyped perceptions of
women in Arab societies?
I believe that art and literature work inherently against stereotypes and generalisation. So, my
writing is against all sorts of stereotypes, whether it's stereotypes of women, men, or a specific
culture or nation. Arab women have been subjected to many stereotypes, such as being oppressed,
weak, not independent. These stereotypes are wrong in most cases. But I also believe that the
novelist is not a PR official or a spokesperson for his/ her nation, people, or tribe. Literature is
beyond all these things.
One has read and seen so much about the recent people's uprising in Egypt. What
impact, if any, has it had on writers, especially women writers? Are you really able to
talk about social, political and sexual issues in a more open way than before? Or have
writers always enjoyed that liberty?
As a novelist I have always written what I wanted to write. These days in Egypt everyone can talk/
write openly about what he wants in social and political terms, but the SCAF (The Supreme Council
of the Armed Forces) is trying to reproduce Mubarak's regime again. We, now, write against this. I
write a weekly article in Almustaqbal newspaper.
The problem also is that society doesn't approve daring writing concerning sex or religion. I guess we
need more than one revolution. Believe it or not, most readers who got mad over the sex scenes in
my novel were female! I see this as a part of the symbolic violence where the victim begins to see
herself through the eyes of her oppressor, and in my opinion this is a more difficult kind of violence
because one can't recognise it easily.
What was/is it like being a writer under military and other dictatorships? How does
having to find indirect ways of saying things affect the texture of one's work? Or is that
not a problem at all?

Like I said, I've always written what I wanted to write. In Egypt, under Mubarak's ugly regime, many
writers were able to write what they wanted, but they paid a heavy price to gain this right. By heavy
price I mean having your books banned or being neglected by the authorities. The regime used
official literary prizes as rewards for the writers who supported it, or at least didn't oppose it.
As for journalism, the situation is more difficult, especially when it comes to State-owned
newspapers, because many editors-in-chief work as gate keepers or even censors. The situation is
better now, but new taboos have appeared because many editors are scared of the SCAF. But,
fortunately, we, the writers and journalists, are still fighting to gain more freedom of speech. In the
newspaper where I used to work we brought down a pro-Mubarak editor-in-chief and elected a new
one, which was an amazing experience.
You've called your writing as the weapon of your choice'. What exactly is it that you
see yourself fighting?
I've always had to fight for everything I have now. Fought to leave my remote village and live on my
own in Cairo, to live the way I liked, to choose writing as a career because all the family wanted me to
be a doctor, fought to write what I wanted without thinking of anything else outside the writing
process. I owe writing almost everything. For me, it was a way to freedom, a way to get rid of many
obstacles. This is one side of it. On the other, in my writing I'm trying to capture the neglected,
forgotten, obscure people, feelings and worlds. Writing for me is a weapon to stand against the
injustice, to support the weak, but this doesn't mean that I'm writing propaganda literature. On the
contrary, I opt for experimental, avant garde writing.
What's Maryam's Maze all about? You've said that you've really let go and unleashed
yourself in that novel. Can you elaborate on that please?
I meant that I was totally free while writing it. Didn't think about the potential readers, critics,
anyone, or anything apart from the novel and the characters. It's an experimental, avant garde novel
that might come across as difficult or even enigmatic, so I didn't expect it to succeed but to my
surprise it was a huge success. It sold many editions including a popular edition and gained praise
from the most important Arab and Egyptian critics.
The novel is about a central protagonist, Maryam, who wakes up in a flat that she has never seen
before and finds that her family members, friends, and the world as she knew it had disappeared.
The novel follows her attempts to regain and build her life through memories.
In Maryam's Maze, there is a strong tie with the techniques and the world of The Arabian
Nights, but the protagonist is a young woman moving through Cairo in the beginning of the third
millennium.
Your second novel, Beyond Paradise, was shortlisted for the International Prize for
Arabic Fiction in 2010. What do you feel about what has been called the Arabic Booker,
do you think it is bringing to light new voices and writers?

Yes, the prize is successful and is bringing new voices to light, but let's not forget that no prize can be
of any help if the work itself is not good. Many novels which won or were shortlisted for prestigious
prizes have been forgotten later.
You have said that each new book/novel is an attempt to set right a perceived lack in
the previous book and that you have an idea what must be written when you begin a
novel. Does writing always follow this trajectory, or is there room for surprising
yourself even as you write?
I just meant that I'd like to be a learner and not to be deceived by the success of my books. I don't
prefer to look at myself as a professional. Writing for me is a mix of pleasure, adventure, and
profession. When I begin writing a novel, I only have a vague picture of what I want to write, I have
some questions and the writing process is a constant trial to find answers to those questions. If I
don't feel that I'm in an adventure within the unknown, I can't complete writing a work. I love when
the characters surprise me and lead me down their own routes. I totally believe that a good novel
writes itself.
Quick facts
Mansoura Ezeldin was born in Delta Egypt in 1976 and studied journalism at the Cairo University.
She works as the book review editor with Akhbar al-Adab. Her first collection of short
stories, Shaken Light, was published in 2001, followed by the novels, Maryam's Maze in 2004
and Beyond Paradise in 2009. Beyond Paradise was shortlisted for the prestigious Arabic
Booker in 2010. She lives in Cairo.
The other inside us
As a writer, Ali Al Muqri is interested in exploring the accumulated conflict behind identities, in a
world where a monolithic identity is no longer possible Excerpts from an email interview.
Could you tell us about the literary climate in Yemen, about the Yemeni Writers
Association? What are some of the concerns of Yemeni writers today?
I have no relationship anymore with the institutions that you mention, but what these institutions
are trying to do is initiate cultural activities. The literature movement in Yemen is part of the
literature of the Arab world, although Yemen is going backwards compared to the cultural
transformations taking place in Lebanon and Egypt. We dont have cultural institutions interested in
publishing books or promoting cinema and theatre. Literary creativity is still limited to individual
effort.
What are the impulses behind your exploring the Arab past? Your book on wine and
Islam seemed to have stirred a controversy....
I think that the value of research, any kind of research, lies in changing the minds complacencies
and inciting it to move beyond closed opinions [on prohibition], and to invent new solutions and
answers to contemporary questions. My book questions the dominantly held view of Muslims on
prohibition by digging out and projecting other opinions and facts concealed in the heritage which is

the other face of prohibition; there are many issues we think have been satisfactorily resolved but the
truth is not that, because what we have done is select texts and evidence that support the prevailing
view and omit texts and other evidence contrary to this view.
This book deals with the issue of alcohol and wine in Islam, through Quranic texts, sources, and
historical references, exploring what different scholars and researchers have said on the issue of
prohibition of alcohol. Ive shown that there is no penalty in the Quran and Sunnah for drinking
alcohol, that there is an agreement in Islamic references that drinking wine was permitted. I have
demonstrated the existence of many levels of texts, ranging from decisive prohibition to tolerance to
acceptance. As this was a topic nobody had explored till now, the clergy attacked me with all the
means at their disposal though I have cited references prudently from known books.
What was it like, writing your novel on the Yemeni Akhdam community, Black Taste,
Black Smell....
Before and during the writing of Black Taste, Black Smell, the one pressing question I had was:
How to write this book from the world view of Al Akhdam (Yemens coloured people). They live a
marginalised life, outcast in Yemen. Yet, despite suffering racial discrimination and social exclusion
because of the colour of their skin, they live an open and free life, like the gypsies, not bound by
(restrictive) social traditions, including religious and cultural values. Thats why I wanted to write a
book about them, a book as open, with no boundaries or framework as their world. I do not know to
what extent I succeeded.
I was not interested in the form of this book, and in its description, when I started writing the first
lines. I wanted the Al Akhdams world, spawned from various narratives, historical, social, realistic
and imaginary, to be its own rhythm. With this world, we cannot follow the enshrined narrative
paths and concepts. Love, for example, is no longer an engine or motive to act rebellious, but its the
body, a string of its smell that leads to antagonism and thus the move to freedom..
I remember when the novel was published in 2008, Reuters said that it reminded the readers of the
world of the untouchables in India. Is it so? I guess Ill see for myself when I come to India. Of
course, the novel also refers to a point of view that the origin of Al Akhdam is India, but it is not
certain.
You are very much concerned with identity and its relation to cultural and political
life, arent you...
There is nothing to be anxious about identities or differences. I do not see that the problem lies
either in identities or multiplicities, ethnic, ideologies or nationalities. The problem lies in the history
of the accumulated conflict to determine these identities and its impact on livelihoods in the present,
when it becomes difficult to talk about a single identity. We no longer have an identity apart from the
identities of others. The other, in the old sense no longer exists, and may be the other is us.
You have said that you wrote The Handsome Jewto reveal a memory in the form of an
intimate love story that goes beyond dislike and class hatred between two religions.
What exactly are you trying to do by writing about the Jewish past of Yemen given the
current political context vis--vis the Arabs and Israel...

The love story was not a means to a message, but is itself a problem; Love, believe the sons of the
two, is impossible between a Muslim woman and a Jew. The novel is not about the possibility of
coexistence between the two religions, but about the plight of the co-existence, the beauty and
cruelty. The inheritance of ideological struggle is part of the text of The Handsome Jew, but the
ideology is not its base, or its goal. The text does not begin from the ideological, or partisan political
position. I think the novel tests concepts and problematic issues such as the authority of religious
ideology on social life, and the reproduction of the conflict in extreme political and social practices.
There is also a test of two concepts, the Sacred Homeland and the Holy Land and their references.
Whats a home? Why the home? And also love at the height of its manifestations, when formed under
the religious barriers between Muslim and Jew. The conflict has other aspects, not just among the
followers of the two religious ideologies, but also within each ideology, especially in its
manifestations as an authority. If Imam Mutawakil Ismail bin Qasim did not persecute the Jews in
Yemen, in the middle of the 17th century, in reaction to their longing for Jerusalem, and their quest
for religious/ mundane power, it was also to benefit from the expanded geographical tax/ jeziah, also
practised against the violators from the other doctrines of Islam in the south and east of Yemen.
Muslim Fatima and the handsome Jew were not far from the ideological power, but they tasted it,
tried to live it, and went to the maximum extent in exploring the possibility of dismantling its
authority. Were they able to achieve this, despite authority hunting for them, even to their graves? Is
their story a questioning or a search for a way out of the conflict? I can not answer.
What is the third novel you are working on about?
My new novel is about a woman facing the body in the community, of the plight of repressed wishes;
struggling with sexual stimulus, and resorting to religion for salvation. Later, the frustrations
accumulate and in spite of all the instructions and moral values, is unable to face the upheaval of the
body.
There are dogmas everywhere irrespective of ones politics and ideology. Would you
say that as a writer, your concerns are with exploring the dogmas in your own
community? And has that sometimes led to the perception of you as an anti-Arab, antiMuslim sometimes?
Taboos in Arab culture and Muslim communities have increased more than ever before. There is a
narrow view of the other which we need to review, as Muslims are an extension of the social and
cultural ancestors of the Jews and Christians, and pagans before them and Zoroastrians, Hindus,
Babylonians, Assyrians, Pharaohs and others. Ive found everyone under the same sky and common
ground, before they are divided by ideologies and illusions produced by breeding the Sacred. Thus
everything has become haraam (prohibited). And instead of living together in a common homeland,
and free ideas, we are seeing them living in a kind of illusion, the illusion of the sacred land, the
sacred homeland, and the true religion. I do not know where they are going.
Quick facts
Ali Al Muqri was born in Taiz in North Yemen in 1966 and began writing at the age of 18. He has
been the editor of various literary journals in the past likeAl Hikma and Ghaiman. His

controversial book on wine and Islam was published in 2007 followed by the novel Black Taste,
Black Smell in 2008 and The Handsome Jew in 2009. He lives in Sanaa.
Keywords: Mansoura Ezeldin, The Hindu Lit for Life conclave