Sweden celebrates Naguib Mahfouz’s centennial
Renowned member of Swedish Academy, Prof. Sture Allén, to visit Egypt next week on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Nobel Prize winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz, with two events to be held in Cairo and Alexandria.
From 15 to 19 October 2011, Swedish renowned Linguist Professor, Sture Allén, will be in Egypt to celebrate the centennial of the Arab world’s most prominent literary figure, Naguib Mahfouz. Allen was Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy and member of the literary committee of Nobel Prize Foundation in 1988, the year when Mahfouz received the Nobel Prize to become the first Arab-Language Author winning this prestigious Award.
Organised under the Auspices of the Swedish Embassy in Cairo and in collaboration with the American University in Cairo Press and Bibliotheca Alexandrina, two lectures will be held by Allén to speak about “The Nobel Prize and Naguib Mahfouz in Translation”.
“Naguib Mahfouz, being the first Arabic speaking author to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, has through his works indeed contributed to opening up the huge treasure of Egyptian culture for the Western world ”,says Malin Kärre, Swedish Ambassador in Cairo. “This year, as we celebrate Mahfouz’ 100thanniversary, the Embassy of Sweden pays homage to his heritage and we are glad that Professor Sture Allén visits Egypt on this occasion ” the Ambassador added.
Sture Allén will be giving a lecture at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on the 17th of October and at the AUC Press in Cairo on the 18th of October. Furthermore, he will be meeting with members of Mahfouz Family and together with Egyptian Novelist Gamal El-Ghitany they will go on a memorial visit to Old Cairo’s Al-Gammaleya quarter, which was at the core of most of Mahfouz’s novels.
Journalists are invited to attend events as outlined below. To schedule Interviews with Sture Allén or to cover his tour in Old Cairo together with Gamal El-Ghitany, please contact the Swedish Embassy.
Monday, 17 October 2011: Bibliotheca Alexandrina from 15:00 to 16:00
Tuesday, 18 October 2011: AUC Press in Cairo from 17:00 to 18:00
