As a Nobel Laureate, and one of Egypt’s most notable writers, the legacy of Naguib Mahfouz has stood the test of time. Known for his prize-winning ‘Cairo Trilogy’ (parts of which were written in the historic El Fishawy café in Cairo’s Khan el Khalili) the remarkable writer’s career looks to be expanding well into 2018.
Following an announcement by his daughter Um Kulthum Mahfouz, 18 unpublished stories that were written by her father have just been discovered and are set for release.
According to her statement the short stories, (which written in the mid-90s), were discovered alongside 32 others by a journalist who was researching the controversy surround Mahfouz’s novel ‘Awlad Haretna’ for an upcoming book.
The 32 stories had been published in 1994 by an Egyptian-based magazine, and the remaining 18 had gone unnoticed until now.
Naguib Mahfouz is known for his extensive career, having written 34 novels, hundreds of short stories and even dabbled in plays and films—all of which came to a screeching halt in 1994 following an attempted assassination due to his position against violence on fellow author Salman Rushdi, who had been condemned by certain groups for his book ‘Satanic Verses’.
Following the attempt, Mahfouz did go on to publish more work almost a decade later. ‘Dreams of Rehabilitation Period’ is a collection of short stories that up until recently was known as the last of his stories to be published.
The newly uncovered short stories are yet to have a publishing date announced, but stay tuned.
