Ezzat Alkamahawi's novel يكفي أننا معا was our book of the month in August 2018
You can find further information on the author and his work as well as readers' comments on the book's page.
Ezzat El Kamhawi - an Egyptian novelist and journalist - was born in the northern governorate of Sharqiya in 1961. He graduated from Cairo University's Faculty of Mass Communication in 1983 and helped to establish Egypt's leading literary newspaper Akhbar Al-Adab in 1993.
In 2011 he moved to Qatar to become the editor-in-chief of the Doha Cultural Magazine. He is the author of ten books, including four novels and two collections of short stories.
In 2012 Ezzat El-Kamhawi was named as the winner of the 2012 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for his novel Bayt Al-Dib (House of Al-Dib). Bayt Al-Dib was first published in Beirut by Dar Al-Adab in 2010 and translated into English in 2013 by the American University in Cairo Press.
A selection of his publications are:
- It Happened in the land of Dust and Mud (Stories) (published by Dar Soad Al Sabbah in 1992).
- The City of Pleasure (Novel) (published by the General Organization for Cultural Centers in 1997 - second edition by "el-Ain publishing" in 2009).
- Times for Joy (Stories) (published by the General Organization for Cultural Centers in 2000).
- The Grove of Sadness and Bliss (published by "Dar el-Hilal" in 2003).
- A room overlooking the Nile (Novel) (published by "Merit Publishing House" in 2004 in Cairo, and "Dar Al Howar" in 2004 Latakia, Syria - second edition by "Merit Publishing House" in 2006 - third edition by "maktabet Al-a'osra" Arabic: in 2010).
- The Guard (Novel) (published by "el-Ain publishing", Cairo 2008).
- Book seduction (published by "el-Ain publishing", Cairo 2009).
- House of the Wolf ( Beit Al-Deeb, ) (Published in Arabic by "Dar Al-Adab", Beirut 2010), (Published in English by AUC Press, Cairo 2013).
- Gold and Glass (Published by "Nahdet Misr", Cairo 2011).
- Shame from both sides (Published by "el-Ain publishing", Cairo 2011).
Ezzat El-Kamhawy had the idea for this book when his nephew died trying to cross the sea to Italy illegally. While the book isn't an exact retelling of the story, Kamhawy diligently did lots of research, travelling to Italy four times during 2010, funded by the Arab Fund for Culture and Art.
El-Kamhawy says the reason behind both the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions is the same reason these youth tried to escape from their countries: a small mafia controlling the economy and disabling its people's capabilities.
- The sea behind the curtains (Published by "Dar Al-Adab", Beirut 2013).
- The sky in an imminent way short stories (Published by "Batanna", Cairo 2016).
- At least we are together (Published by the "Egyptian Lebanese House", Cairo 2017).
