Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouzwas an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism. He published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films...
NationalityEgyptian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth11 December 1911
CityCairo, Egypt
CountryEgypt
History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.
I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.
My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize.
I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.
I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.
The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level.
One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.
Without literature my life would be miserable.
It is simply not part of my culture to preserve notes. I have never heard of a writer preserving his early drafts.
Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story.
I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.
The Arab world also won the Nobel with me.
I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday.
It's not surprising that truly humanitarian manifestos originate frequently in minority circles or with people whose consciences are troubled by the problems of minorities.