Egyptian Culture: Writer Sonallah Ibrahim Passes Away at the Age of 88

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Sea - Follow-ups: The Egyptian Ministry of Culture announced on Wednesday the death of the Egyptian writer Sonallah Ibrahim at the age of 88. Minister of Culture Ahmed Fouad Heno said in a statement that the deceased "represented one of the pillars of contemporary Arab narrative, and his works were characterized by depth of vision, with his constant commitment to the issues of the nation and humanity, which made him an example of the creative person who combined creative sense and critical awareness." Ibrahim was born in Cairo in 1937 and imbibed a love of stories and novels from his father, whom he describes as a "skilled storyteller" and who owned a library rich in international works and modern publications. He studied law, but soon turned away from it to politics and journalism, belonged to the left-wing movement, and worked for the Egyptian Middle East News Agency, then as an editor in the Arabic section of the German Aden Agency in Berlin, which belonged to the German Democratic Republic. He then traveled to Moscow on a scholarship to study cinematography. He returned to Egypt in 1974 and then decided to devote himself to literature and translation, and some of his works were turned into television and film works. His most prominent works include (That Smell), (67), (August Star), (The Committee), (Amerikanly), (Berlin 69), (Beirut Beirut), (Honor), and (Zaat). He won the Sultan Al Owais Cultural Foundation Award and the Ibn Rushd Award for Free Thought, but in 2003 he sparked controversy in literary circles when he apologized for not receiving the "Cairo Forum for Arab Novel Creativity" award because of his position on the government at the time. He also won the Cavafy Prize for Literature in 2017.