Egypt All works

All works 56

FiltersMediumGenrePeriodLevelSort by

TalePopular Stories of Ancient EgyptLes Contes populaires de l'Égypte ancienneAnonymous · 1881Some twenty ancient Egyptian tales, from court magic to metamorphoses, gathered in a single volume.Literature
NovelZainabزينبMuhammad Husayn Haykal · 1913A country girl, married by force to a good husband, loved by two other men who are forbidden to her in every way.Literature
CinemaBarsoum Looking for a Jobبرسوم يبحث عن وظيفةMohamed Bayoumi · 1923A Copt and a Muslim look for work together, in the first Egyptian fiction short film.Cinema
Theatreمصرع كليوباتراAhmad Shawqi · 1927not translated into EnglishThe last days of Cleopatra after Actium, in a tragedy in Arabic verse that makes the queen a sovereign attached to Egypt.LiteraturePublic domain
CinemaLailaليلىAziza Amir · 1927An oasis girl abandoned while pregnant by her fiancé, in a silent film that opens Egyptian cinema.Cinema
NarrativeThe DaysالأيامTaha Hussein · 1929The childhood of a boy deprived of sight in an Egyptian village, then his student years, told by the adult he has become.Literature
TheatreThe People of the Caveأهل الكهفTawfiq al-Hakim · 1933Sleepers returned to the world three centuries too late, in a play drawn from a story shared by the Quran and the Christian tradition.Literature
CinemaThe White Roseالوردة البيضاءMohamed Karim · 1933A dismissed employee becomes a singer to win the daughter of his former employer, despite the barriers of class.Cinema
Poetryديوان حافظ إبراهيمHafez Ibrahim · 1937not translated into EnglishTopical verse in classical language, on women, poverty, schooling and the occupier.LiteraturePublic domain
NovelSaraسارةAbbas al-Aqqad · 1938A man in love with an elusive woman, whom doubt drives to have her watched: a study of jealousy.Literature
PoetryDéraisons d'êtreGeorges Henein · 1938not translated into EnglishPoems and drawings gathered against academic traditions, in a slim illustrated Surrealist collection.Literature
CinemaThe WillالعزيمةKamal Selim · 1939A poor young man from a Cairo alley loses his job and hides his downfall from those around him.Cinema
CinemaReturn to the Countrysideالعودة إلى الريفAhmad Kamel Morsi · 1939City-dwelling landowners sent back to their lands discover the life of those who work them.Cinema
Poetryديوان الباروديMahmoud Sami al-Baroudi · 1942not translated into EnglishThe poems of a banished statesman, between nostalgia for exile and a return to the ancient models.Literature
NovelThe Saint's Lampقنديل أم هاشمYahya Haqqi · 1944A doctor back from Europe finds at home the oil of a shrine where he meant to heal through science.Literature
CinemaThe Black Marketالسوق السوداءKamal al-Telmessani · 1945During the war, a black marketeer and a greedy father stand against two betrothed lovers, in a poor district of Cairo.Cinema
NovelMidaq Alleyزقاق المدقNaguib Mahfouz · 1947A dead-end alley in old Cairo and its inhabitants, whom the world war tempts in a thousand ways.Literature
NovelLaziness in the Fertile ValleyLes Fainéants dans la vallée fertileAlbert Cossery · 1948A family that regards sleep as an art, disturbed by a son who wants to work and a father who wants to marry.Literature
CinemaThe Flirtation of Girlsغزل البناتAnwar Wagdi · 1949A modest teacher of Arabic falls in love with his pupil, a pasha's daughter, in a musical comedy.Cinema
NovelEgyptian EarthالأرضAbd al-Rahman al-Sharqawi · 1954Fellahin deprived of half their water stand up for themselves, under the monarchy and the British occupation.Literature
CinemaFools' Alleyدرب المهابيلTawfik Saleh · 1955The jackpot falls into the hands of the neighbourhood madman, and an entire alley changes its face.Cinema
Short storiesجمهورية فرحاتYusuf Idris · 1956not translated into EnglishA sergeant tells, between two complaints, of the prosperous Egypt he dreamed of, in a collection of Egyptian stories.Literature
NovelI Do Not Sleepلا أنامIhsan Abdel Quddous · 1956A daughter who cannot bear her father's remarriage is determined to undo it, and tells the story in a letter.Literature
Poetryالناس في بلاديSalah Abdel Sabour · 1957not translated into EnglishFree verse on the ordinary people of Egypt, death and injustice, in a language without ornament.Literature
CinemaCairo Stationباب الحديدYoussef Chahine · 1958A crippled newspaper seller, a drinks seller and the crowd of a great railway station.Cinema
CinemaThe Nightingale's Prayerدعاء الكروانHenry Barakat · 1959A servant enters the household of the man who caused her sister's death, in order to take revenge on him.Cinema
CinemaThe Beginning and the Endبداية ونهايةSalah Abu Seif · 1960A father's death plunges a family into hardship, and each of the children copes in their own way.Cinema
NovelThe Open Doorالباب المفتوحLatifa al-Zayyat · 1960A teenage girl whom her family wants to keep under control and marry off comes into her own amid the marches of the national struggle.Literature
NovelThe Sixth DayLe Sixième JourAndrée Chedid · 1960During an epidemic, a grandmother hides her sick grandson and counts the days until the sixth.Literature
CinemaLast Nightالليلة الأخيرةKamal El Sheikh · 1963After a bombing, a woman loses fifteen years of her life, and no one around her calls her by her name any more.Cinema
PoetryThe Book of QuestionsLe Livre des questionsEdmond Jabès · 1963Two lovers separated by deportation, invented rabbis, and a book that questions itself.Literature
NovelThat Smellتلك الرائحةSonallah Ibrahim · 1966A former political prisoner, watched every evening, relearns a city that no longer expects him.Literature
CinemaThe Night of Counting the YearsالمومياءShadi Abdel Salam · 1969The son of a tribal chief discovers that his people have always lived off the looting of a royal cache.Cinema
CinemaAdrift on the Nileثرثرة فوق النيلHussein Kamal · 1971A disillusioned civil servant discovers, on a Nile houseboat, a circle that smokes so as to stop seeing the country.Cinema
NovelZayni Barakatالزيني بركاتGamal al-Ghitani · 1974A puritan administrator holds Cairo of the last Mamluks through his spies, in a political fable.Literature
Poetryكائنات مملكة الليلAhmad Abd al-Muti Hijazi · 1978not translated into EnglishNight, exile and the memory of the village, in the poems of an Egyptian living in Paris.Literature
NovelRama and the Dragonرامة والتنينEdwar al-Kharrat · 1980A Copt and a Muslim woman, their love and its torments, in a prose laden with myths.Literature
CinemaThe Bus Driverسواق الأوتوبيسAtef El-Tayeb · 1982A war veteran asks his family for the means to save the family livelihood, and runs up against their greed.Cinema
NovelThe Heronمالك الحزينIbrahim Aslan · 1983On the eve of a riot, a Cairo suburb, its cafés, its dreamers and its angers.Literature
Short storiesAishaAhdaf Soueif · 1983An Egyptian woman between two countries and two languages, followed from her first years to her life as a woman, in stories that answer one another.Literature
CinemaThe Street PlayerالحريفMohamed Khan · 1983A worker gifted at neighbourhood football lives off betting matches and a family in pieces.Cinema
Short storiesمدينة الموت الجميلSaid al-Kafrawi · 1985not translated into EnglishStories of the Egyptian countryside, poetic and melancholic, in which narrative gives way to atmosphere.Literature
CinemaThe HighالكيفAli Abdel Khalek · 1985A chemist invents a fake drug to save his brother, and a trafficker seizes the recipe.Cinema
CinemaThe Collar and the Braceletالطوق والأسورةKhairy Beshara · 1986Three generations of women in a house in Upper Egypt, under the law of the elders and the gaze of the village.Cinema
NovelThe Fall of the Imamسقوط الإمامNawal El Saadawi · 1987An orphan with no father's name, in a country with no name ruled by an Imam in the name of divine law.Literature
NovelThe House of Jasmineبيت الياسمينIbrahim Abdel Meguid · 1987A minor clerk in Alexandria, his arrangements and his loneliness, in the years when Sadat opens up the country.Literature
Short storiesLe voyage de RâNabil Naoum · 1988not translated into EnglishIronic, spare short stories by an Egyptian engineer turned writer, which reached French readers first.Literature
CinemaSummer Theftsسرقات صيفيةYousry Nasrallah · 1988The summer of the 1961 nationalisations, seen by the child of a landowning family and his peasant friend.Cinema
CinemaKit Katالكيت كاتDaoud Abdel Sayed · 1991A blind man who refuses to be blind leads his neighbourhood life as if he could see everything.Cinema
CinemaBeggars and Noblemenشحاذون ونبلاءAsma El Bakry · 1991A former professor turned vagrant, a murder without a motive, and a policeman waiting for a confession.Cinema
NovelAunt Safiyya and the Monasteryخالتي صفية والديرBahaa Taher · 1991In a village in the South, a family vendetta pursues a man to the gates of a Coptic monastery.Literature
CinemaThree on the Roadثلاثة على الطريقMohamed al-Qaliouby · 1993A lorry driver, a runaway child and a chance passenger, over two days on the road in Egypt.Cinema
NovelClamor of the Lakeصخب البحيرةMohamed El-Bisatie · 1994Fishermen and shore-dwellers of a lake in the delta, whom the water draws and haunts, in a narrative close to the prose poem.Literature
NovelGranadaغرناطةRadwa Ashour · 1994The fall of Granada seen through a family of booksellers, from burned books to forced baptisms.Literature
CinemaDemons of the Asphaltعفاريت الأسفلتOssama Fawzy · 1996A family of microbus drivers, a whole neighbourhood, and love affairs that no one admits to.Cinema
NovelThe Man from BashmourالبشموريSalwa Bakr · 1998A Coptic servant sent to peasants in revolt against taxation, in medieval Egypt.Literature