Category: Interviews
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Not my Egypt – Interview with pen/opp
Ahmed Naji is trying to understand the zeitgeist. In the 36 years of his life he has witnessed dictatorship, revolution, counter-revolution, military coup, jail and exile. Ahmed Naji’s story is unique. He is the first author jailed for a work of literary fiction in Egypt’s modern history. What is more,…
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With Bulaq podcast: Reading and Writing Behind Bars
Listen to whole interview here : https://www.sowt.com/en/podcast/bulaq-bwlaq/reading-and-writing-behind-bars
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Ahmed Naji on the Contemporary Reality of the Exiled Writer
This is Thresholds, a series of conversations with writers about experiences that completely turned them upside down, disoriented them in their lives, changed them, and changed how and why they wanted to write. Hosted by Jordan Kisner, author of the new essay collection, Thin Places, and brought to you by…
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An Interview with Ahmed Naji: “I don’t think identity is a tattoo
Ahmed Naji is a collector of occupational labels—occasional journalist, blogger, intellectual masturbator, documentary filmmaker, agent for belly dancers—accepting any label, and prescribing to none. The one that feels most true is simply “writer.” For Naji, to be a writer is not an identity in itself, but an avenue for discovery:…
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Ahmed Naji on Nights in Prison: ‘You Started to Believe That You Could Design Your Dreams’
Ahmed Naji: I was in denial. Until I was in the police station I was in denial, and I thought this should be a mistake and something’s wrong. Because as I was telling you, this was the first time that happened in the history of Egypt. The reaction was so…
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Interview with monocle radio: Tahrir Square, 10 years on
Ten years after Egyptians rose up against long-ruling dictator Hosni Mubarak during the first hopeful weeks of the Arab Spring, we look at why it didn’t work out as the protesters might have hoped and ask if the energy of Egypt’s revolution is still alive anywhere. Andrew Mueller is joined…
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With Le Monde
Thanks, Le Monde, for giving me the chance to have this conversation with Elias Khory. I enjoyed disagree with him, and your questions pushed me to rethink many other things.I hope such work will encourage other French media outlets to hear and give space for other young Arabs who are…
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Interview with The Rumpus :The Fine Line Between Nihilism and Hope
By Madelyn Reese December 28th, 2020 Ahmed Naji is an Egyptian journalist, writer, and criminal. At least that’s what the Egyptian government thinks of him. Naji didn’t think of himself as a “Writer” with the capital “W” until 2016, when he was sentenced to two years in prison for obscenity…
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The PEN Ten Interview: Ahmed Naji on Language, Identity, and Writing in Exile
This interview was first published at: https://pen.org/ahmed-naji-pen-ten-interview/ By: Lily Philpott May 2, 2019 The PEN Ten is PEN America’s weekly interview series. This week Lily Philpott, Public Programs Manager at PEN America, speaks with Ahmed Naji, 2016 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award recipient and the author of three books: Rogers (2007),…