Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian
writer who won the
1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the
Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind". Mahfouz is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers in
Arabic literature, along with
Taha Hussein, to explore themes of
existentialism. He is the only Egyptian to win the
Nobel Prize in Literature. He published 35 novels, over 350 short stories, 26 screenplays, hundreds of op-ed columns for Egyptian newspapers, and seven plays over a 70-year career, from the 1930s until 2004. All of his novels take place in Egypt, and always mention the lane which equals the world. His most famous works include ''
The Cairo Trilogy'' and ''
Children of Gebelawi''. Many of Mahfouz's works have been made into
Egyptian and foreign films; no Arab writer exceeds Mahfouz in number of works that have been adapted for cinema and television. While Mahfouz's literature is classified as
realist literature,
existential themes appear in it.
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