The Essential Yusuf Idris Masterpieces Of The Egyptian Short Story
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
Published: 2009
Language: eng
Number of pages: 268
ISBN-13: 9789774162428
Description: "Yusuf Idris (1927-91), who belonged to the same generation of pioneering Egyptian writers as Naguib Mahfouz and Tawfiq al-Hakim, is widely celebrated as the father of the Arabic short story, just as Mahfouz is considered the father of the Arabic novel. He studied and practiced medicine, but his interests were in politics and the support of the nationalist struggle, and in writing-and his writing, whether in his regular newspaper columns or in his fiction, often reflected his political convictions. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature more than once, and when the prize went to Naguib Mahfouz in 1988, Idris felt that he had been passed over because of his outspoken views on Israel. In all, Yusuf Idris wrote some twelve collections of superbly crafted short stories, mainly about ordinary, poor people, many of which have been translated into English and are included in this collection, along with an extract from one of his novels, in this collection of the best of his work."--Jacket.