For me, Cairo was never just a city, a word, or a geographical location, but a story book on its own. It is hard for a writer, thinker, artist or dreamer to look at this very odd-looking, messy and spirited place without drifting off to a dream and hold a yearning desire to transform it into a painting, a novel or a gripping film series. In ‘The Book of Cairo’ published by Comma Press, this dream is reflected in each page and each writer’s story. It features the work of a new generation of Egyptian writers, like Ahmed Naji, Mohamed Salah El Azab, Hend Jaafar, Hassan Abdel-Mawgoud, Nael el-Toukhy, Hatem Hafez and others who grew up mostly in the 70s and 80s – a time period in Egypt’s history that signaled a sudden break from the decade before it. After witnessing two intense transformations in its history – the January 2011 revolution and the July 2013 revolution – the writers in this story reflect a city that is yet searching for ‘The Truth’. Some are searching for it while dozed off, preferring to turn to their dream-like romances, soap opera,…
