THIRS SESSION 1992 – 1993
Short Story, Novel & Drama

  • Born in Cairo on August 3rd, 1937.
  • In 1976, he became a full-time writer.
  • His first attempt at writing short stories came in 1953 while studying at university. He won a prize by Aziz Armani at the time for his debut short story.
  • He became involved in politics and dropped out of university to work in a secret printing press before being
  • Many critics wrote lengthy studies about his works, considering him one of the iconic authors of the 1960s.

Decision of the General Secretariat : 

Sonallah Ibrahim has succeeded in achieving a rich balance between aesthetics and social and intellectual content. He is considered one of the most prominent novelists who broke the traditional mold and eliminated linguistic looseness and excess wording from prose. In his writings, he was always keen on modernizing structure and reflecting various social changes through capturing different cultural and materialistic trends and bringing them into the character formation process.

From this perspective, Sonallah Ibrahim’s works give us the opportunity to view various aspects of the development of the Arabic novel. Moreover, they allow us to read into the struggles of society to support values of development and critical knowledge. His works, which are keen on modernization and employ various levels of narration and multiple narrative voices and languages, have contributed to transforming the novel genre into a tool of knowledge that helps answer many contemporary questions, making him a great addition to this art in the Arab world.

Famous Works : 

  • ‘Tilkal Ra’eha’ (That Smell, 1966)
  • ‘Najmat Aghustus’ (August’s Star, 1974)
  • ‘Al Lajna’ (The Committee, 1981)
  • ‘Beirut… Beirut’, 1984
  • ‘That’ (A Self, 1992)
  • ‘Amricanly’ (Americanish, 2003)

Translations

  • ‘The Enemy’ by James Drought
  • ‘The Donkey’
  • ‘Aid or a New Form of Colonialism?’
  • ‘The Fearless Boy’
  • ‘When the Spider Sat Waiting’
  • ‘Larvae in an Unending Cycle’
  • ‘The Day the Old Queen Returned’
  • ‘Finback meets Jaws’
  • ‘Life and Death in a Colorful Sea’
  • ‘Scientific Stories for Children’
  • ‘The Black Hawk Receives a Warning’
  • ‘The Corals Seek the Help of Rockets’
  • ‘The Horse Takes Revenge for His Friend’
  • ‘Desert Fox and the Chanting Sands’
  • ‘The Hunter on a Glorious Day’

 

She passed away on December 12, 2003.