Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian novelist, playwright and
screenwriter, was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the First
Arabic writer to win literature’s highest award. He was born in Cairo in 1911.
Mahfouz began writing at the age of 17. He is the author of 40 novels and
collections of short stories, several plays and more than 30 screenplays.
Mahfouz supported President Anwar el-Sadat's peace treaty with Israel, and despite
his popularity, his books were banned in many Arab countries because of his
support for the peace treaty. Mahfouz has an interesting view of life and
deeply cares for issues in society and write to express his feelings to inspire
or uplift others. However, his writing can be gloomy, but emphasizes change. Mahfouz
has always been a socially committed writer with a deep concern for the problem
of social injustice is an incontestable fact. Clearly, Mahfouz’s work is controversial
as countries have banned his book, but I get the impression that he has a lot
of support from community members and the public in general. I imagine his
support comes from his character, because he has shown a concern for others,
and his writing can inspire others. Mahfouz passed away recently, but I believe
he left an important mark on history, and has proven that Arabic writers can be
just as successful, and can help change the world. One thing I found to be
amazing is that there was a total of 150 writers who were nominated for the
award, so this shows how high the competition was, which shows how hard one
must work to receive the award, especially an Arabic Writer.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/14/books/88nobel.html
https://middleeast.library.cornell.edu/content/naguib-mahfouz-biography
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