Egyptian writers
Sonallah Ibrahim: where to start
Sonallah Ibrahim was one of Egypt’s most uncompromising novelists, a former political prisoner whose spare, documentary fiction took on the state. Here is who he was, which of his books to read first, and where to go next.
Who is Sonallah Ibrahim?
Ibrahim was born in Cairo in 1937 and died in 2025. As a young leftist he was imprisoned from 1959 to 1964, and the experience shaped everything he wrote.
His first novel, That Smell (1966), about a man released from prison and kept under police watch, was censored on publication. In 2003 he publicly refused a major Arab novel award at a ceremony in Cairo, criticizing the Egyptian government from the stage.
Where to start
1966
That Smell
A man walks out of prison into a Cairo where he is still watched. Short, stark and groundbreaking.
1981
The Committee
A man is summoned before a mysterious committee and told to write a study of the greatest contemporary Arab luminary. A Kafkaesque satire.
1992
Zaat
An ordinary Cairo woman’s life from Nasser to Mubarak, intercut with real newspaper clippings.
Why read Sonallah Ibrahim today
Ibrahim’s books are short, dry and fearless. Few writers have shown so clearly how power reaches into everyday life.
Another Egyptian voice
Sonallah Ibrahim wrote about prisons, surveillance and the state from experience. A.M. Khalifa’s Terminal Rage is a thriller rather than a satire, but it too ends in an Egyptian prison, at the end of a conspiracy that begins in Manhattan.
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 · Latifa al-Zayyat · Bahaa Taher · Youssef Ziedan · 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
Which Sonallah Ibrahim book should I read first?
That Smell, his short first novel, or The Committee, his most famous satire.
Was Sonallah Ibrahim imprisoned?
Yes, from 1959 to 1964, as a young leftist.
Are his books available in English?
Yes. That Smell, The Committee and Zaat are among those translated into English.