Alkhamisi's "A Fragment Of Night" short story collection was our book selection for December 2005.
For further reading on al-Khamisi, his work and discussion with his readers, please check the book's page.
Ahmad (Abdel Rahman) Al Khamisi Egyptian journalist and short story writer, born in Cairo, January 1948. Alkhamisi has a PhD in Russian Literature, Moscow University and is a member of Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate and Egyptian Writers' Union. He worked in the field of journalism since 1964. ِWhile studying in Moscow University he was Abu Dhabi broadcasting service correspondent and correspondent for Al Itihad newspaper of Emirates. In the same period he has introduced-for the first time in Arabic- many Russian writers including Vasili Shukshin, Youri Kazakov.
He wrote a weekly column in Egyptian journal Akhbar Al Adab, was the correspondent for the Beirut based journal Al Adab in Cairo and contributes regularly to many Egyptian and Arabic papers on cultural and literary issues.
Since he was a young boy of seventeen literary greats like Mahmoud Taymour and Yusuf Idrees. His short story collection" A Fragment Of Night", has been acclaimed by major critics, such as Badr Al Deib, for their "'elegant structure and exceptional sophistication in drawing character".
About " Fragment of a Night" Badr Al Deib said that: "Though Al Khamisi's fictional work appears at first glance, regular pieces of slice of life features, further study soon reveals an embedded sense of the fantastic, juxtaposed with the mundane and daily to create an effect that is both philosophical in nature and delightful in its legerity. His work comes across as wonderfully effortless and yet the subject matter is always of a meditative nature. His voice is therefore quite unique in the currently being written Arab short story and evokes as much thought as it pleases and delights in its form and style".
He was awarded the Syrian "Nabil Toumeh" award for his play "The Mountain" in 2011, Sawiris Prize for his collection of short stories "Canary" as the best group among established writers for the year 2011 and the Sawiris Cultural Award for his collection of short stories "You and I" as the best short story collection among established writers in 2017.
He is currently dedicated to writing regularly in the Egyptian and Arab press.
Short Stories
- "Dreams, Birds, Carnival", a collection of short stories - The General Egyptian Book Organisation - 1967, a collection jointly with Ahmed Hashem Al-Sharif and Mahmoud Younis
- A Fragment Of Night published by Merit, July, Cairo 2004 and a second edition by Kotobkhan.
- "Canary" is a collection of short stories written - Today's Book, Akhbar Al-Youm - December 2010 - won the Sawiris Prize, Senior Writers Branch, as the best short story collection for 2011.
- "The Red Rooster's Head" - A Collection of Short Stories - Kotob Khan - Cairo - December 2012
- "The Three Generations", a collection of short stories, Anna Ahmed Al-Khamisi - Ahmed Al-Khamisi - Abdel-Rahman Al-Khamisi - Kayan House - Cairo - January 2015.
- "You and I", a collection of short stories 2015 Kayan House - Cairo - won the Sawiris Prize in 2017 as the best short story collection among senior writers
- "A Night Without a Moon" anthology of short stories - General Egyptian Book Organization - 2018
- "The Ice Rose" collection - Majaz House, Cairo - 2019
Ahmed Alkhamisi work in Translation
- "Dictionary of Literary Terms" translated from Russian in 1984
- "The Jewish Question" by Dostoevsky - Journal of Literature and Criticism - Issue No. 69 - May 1991, and "Zarqa al-Yamamah" magazine re-published the same translation in 1996, then included in his book "Russian Papers".
- "How bitter your Tears were in Dream" stories translated from Russian - Dar Al-Mustaqbal - 1985.
- "Stories and Poems for Children", translated by the Arab Writers Union, Damascus, 1998
- "Naguib Mahfouz in the Mirrors of Orientalism", edited and translated - House of Culture - 1989 - and a second edition was issued by the Supreme Council of Culture.
- "Secrets of the Iraqi-Soviet Negotiations in the Gulf Crisis" - Introduction and translation - 1991 - Madbouly Library.
- "Women of the Kremlin" - Madbouly Library - 1997.
- "The Smell of Bread" - Translated Stories - Culture Palaces - 1999.
- "A Passing Encounter" translated Russian stories - Kitab AlYoum - February 2014
Theatre
"The Mountain" in 2011 received the Nabil Toumeh Award
Scripts
-Script for the film 'Respectable Families', Cairo, 1968
-Script for the film 'The Violet', Cairo, 1972.
Studies
-Tears find their way to Moscow. (Al Ahali Cairo, 1991)
-The war in Chechnya, (Studies 1996. Published by Dar Al Itihad)
-The closed door between Copts and Muslims in Egypt (Dar Al-Hilali, 2008).
- "The Eyes of Liberation in Literature and Politics" - 2011 - Kayan House - Cairo
- "Russian Papers" - Articles - Kitab alYoum - May 2013
Some of his stories have been translated into several languages, and his collection "A Fragment of Night" was translated into English and published in America. Translation by Dr. Hadi Emara
Email: ahmadalkhamisi2012@gmail.com
