Egyptian writers
Latifa al-Zayyat: where to start
Latifa al-Zayyat was a novelist, scholar and activist whose novel The Open Door is a classic of Egyptian and feminist fiction. Here is who she was, which of her books to read first, and where to go next.
Who is Latifa al-Zayyat?
Al-Zayyat was born in Damietta in 1923 and died in 1996. She was a professor of English literature at Ain Shams University in Cairo and a lifelong political activist, imprisoned for her activism more than once, including in 1981 under President Sadat.
Her novel The Open Door (1960) follows a young woman in Cairo from 1946 to the Suez crisis of 1956, as her own fight for independence runs alongside her country’s. It was made into a film and is available in English translation.
Where to start
1960
The Open Door
Layla comes of age in a middle-class Cairo family as Egypt fights for independence.
1992
The Search: Personal Papers
Her memoir, moving between her life, her politics and her time in prison.
Why read Latifa al-Zayyat today
The Open Door is a coming-of-age novel, a political novel and a love story at once, and one of the best ways to understand Egypt in the years around 1952.
Another Egyptian voice
Latifa al-Zayyat wrote the story of a nation through one young woman’s life. A.M. Khalifa writes Egypt into the international thriller: his Terminal Rage leads from a Manhattan office tower to Cairo.
A.M. Khalifa grew up in a diplomatic corps family across more than fifteen countries and is the only Egyptian writing commercial espionage fiction in English. His debut, Terminal Rage, has sold more than 500,000 copies and received a starred review from Booklist.
More Egyptian writers
Naguib Mahfouz · Alaa Al Aswany · Ahdaf Soueif · Nawal El Saadawi · Omar El Akkad · Ahmed Mourad · Ahmed Khaled Towfik · Tawfiq al-Hakim · Taha Hussein · Radwa Ashour · Yusuf Idris · Bahaa Taher · Youssef Ziedan · Sonallah Ibrahim · Ibrahim Abdel Meguid · Ezzedine Choukri Fishere · Khaled Al Khamissi · Mansoura Ez-Eldin · Waguih Ghali · Yasmine El Rashidi · Noor Naga · Omar Robert Hamilton · Nabil Farouk · A.M. Khalifa
Questions
What is The Open Door about?
A young woman, Layla, growing up in Cairo between 1946 and 1956 and fighting for her independence as Egypt fights for its own.
Is The Open Door available in English?
Yes. It has been translated into English.
Who are other Egyptian women writers?
Nawal El Saadawi, Radwa Ashour, Ahdaf Soueif and Mansoura Ez-Eldin.