Author: Bab Masr

It is not easy for a writer to talk about his experience, because when he does, it is like cutting his way through a forest of tangled branches, which requires effort and skill to untangle, not to mention determining where to start. Perhaps the external factors that influenced the writer’s career are the best introduction to this discussion. They are less difficult to address and are usually shared by a number of writers, or even an entire generation. I was not alone in becoming aware of the turmoil of the early 1950s and witnessing the birth of a new realist…

I have tried my best to avoid talking about this subject, for the simple reason that I believe that two or three novels do not make a writer, and that one can only talk about the experience of writing novels through the number of works one has produced. However, it was necessary for me to participate in this important forum, and since I had deliberately distanced myself from theoretical and critical activity, I had no choice but to engage in this discussion. I do not believe that this is the place to discuss the circumstances and factors that led me…