Dr. Ahmed Zayed at an Abu Dhabi International Book Fair Symposium
Posted on
Egypt is the guest of honor at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, which opened yesterday. A symposium was held as part of the Fair’s cultural program entitled "Naguib Mahfouz… The Mirror of History and Society", delivered by Prof. Ahmed Zayed, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and moderated by Egyptian novelist Reem Bassiouney. The event witnessed the participation of Dr. Nevine El-Kilany, Minister of Culture; Dr. Ahmed Bahy El-Din, Chairman of the General Egyptian Book Organization; Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Book Fair; and Ms. Oum Kulthum, daughter of Naguib Mahfouz (the central figure of the current edition of the Fair).
Dr. Ahmed Zayed stressed that Naguib Mahfouz is an international writer by all accounts, and that the impact of his literature is equally international, pointing out to the fact that if we want to look at his influence on Egyptian society and in the Arab world, we must look at his own perception of society, and take into account his imagination, vision, and philosophy. He mentioned that Naguib Mahfouz was widely successful in portraying the lives of Egyptians, and in his representations of the Egyptian working-class neighborhoods, including the conflict between good and evil, love and hate, all the emotions that connect men and women, and other human feelings.