Homecoming: Sixty Years of Egyptian Short Stories

Denys Johnson-Davies has produced more than thirty volumes of translation of modern Arabic literature, including The Essential Naguib Mahfouz (AUC Press, 2011). He received the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2007 for Personality of the Year in the Field of Culture.

Short story writing in Egypt was still in its infancy when Denys Johnson-Davies, described by Edward Said as "the leading Arabic-English translator of our time," arrived in Cairo as a young man in the 1940s. Nevertheless, he was immediately impressed by such writing talents of the time as Mahmoud Teymour, Yahya Hakki, Yusuf Gohar, and the future Nobel literature laureate Naguib Mahfouz, and he set about translating their works for local English-language periodicals of the time.He continued to translate over the decades, and sixty years later he brings together this remarkable overview of the work of several generations of Egypt's leading short story writers. This selection of some fifty stories represents not only a cross-section through time but also a spectrum of styles, and includes works by Teymour, Hakki, Gohar, and Mahfouz and later writers such as Mohamed El-Bisatie, Said el-Kafrawi, Bahaa Taher, and Radwa Ashour, as well as new young writers of today like Hamdy El-Gazzar, Mansoura Ez Eldin, and Youssef Rakha.

Secrets Ibrahim Abdel MeguidGrandad Hasan Yahya Taher AbdullahHomecoming Yusuf Abu RayyaIn the Place for Prayers Mohammed AfifiAt the Level Crossing Abbas AhmedSylvia Ahmed AlaidyThe Report of Mrs. R. Concerning the Last Day of the Week Radwa AshourDrops of Lemon Juice Ibrahim AslanThe Palm Tree My Aunt Loved Hana AtiaSundown Shukri AyyadA Small White Mouse Salwa BakrThe Days of the Black Cat Rehab BassamThe Room Next Door Mohamed El-BisatieA House for My Children Mahmoud DiabHashish Steals the Night Shehata al-ErianEyes Staring into Space Mansoura Ez EldinThe Dancer Shawqi FaheemA Place under the Dome Abdul Rahman FahmyThe Story of Black Knight Hosam FakhrRed and White Ibrahim FarghaliThe Accusation Suleiman FayyadA Dog Hamdy el-GazzarThe Old Clothes Man Fathy GhanemA Visit Gamal al-GhitaniPut Out Those Lights Yousef GoharCairo Is a Small City Nabil GorgyThe Girls and the Rooster Abdou GubeirMother of the Destitute Yahya HakkiThe Old Man Gamil Atia IbrahimAcross Three Beds in the Afternoon Sonallah IbrahimThe Chair Carrier Yusuf IdrisUndoing the Spell Said al-KafrawiBirds' Footsteps in the Sand Edwar al-KharratThe Man Who Saw the Sole of His Left Foot in a Cracked Mirror Lutfi al-KhouliA Murder Long Ago Naguib MahfouzThe Arrival Mohamed MakhzangiThe Guard's Chair Mohamed MakhzangiA Lover Mohamed MakhzangiThe Man with the Mustache and the Bow Tie Mohamed MakhzangiThe Son, the Father, and the Donkey Sabri MoussaNaked He Went Off Mohamed MustagabThe Whistle Abd al-Hakim QasimThe Dental Crown Youssef RakhaAnother Evening at the Club Alifa RifaatParadise Itself Mahmoud al-SaadaniFor the Love of God Abdul Hamid Gouda al-SahharThe Snooper Mekkawi SaidThe Lost Suitcase Abdel-Moneim SelimThe Clock Khairy ShalabyThe Man and the Farm Yusuf SharouniThe Mother Ibrahim ShukrallahThe Country Boy Yusuf al-SibaiUseless Cats Bahaa TaherThe House of the Spinster Sahar TawfiqAbu Arab Mahmoud TeymourThirst Mahmoud Al-WardaniThe Picture Latifa al-Zayyat