Angry Voices: An Anthology of the Off-beat New Egyptian Poets

Mohamed Metwalli

Jan 2003 · University of Arkansas Press

About this ebook

A new movement is emerging in Egyptian literature--urban in its energies; cosmopolitan in its national, Arabic, and western influences; and independent and rowdy in its voice. For centuries, Arabic literature mandated traditional, unchanging, highly structured language and forms. In the 1960s and 1970s, writers rebelled to write in a variety of vernaculars. Now, young Egyptian poets are inventing new ways of writing. Rejecting both traditional Arabic formalism and the vernacular rebellion--and, contradictorily, drawing equally on these traditions and others--they radically combine and recombine influences and bring new experiences into their poetry. They embrace experimentation.



Rejected at first by the literary establishment, these poets founded their own magazines, one of which appropriated a derisive term that had been used to dismiss them: Locusts. Now one of Egypt's most honored translators and writers has joined with one of those Locusts to gather a selection of this postmodern writing in one place for the first time. With its edginess and play of styles, this collection showcases a dynamic, emergent scene.

About the author

Mohamed Enani is the founder and general editor of the State Publishing House's translation series Contemporary Arabic Literature, which comprises over one hundred translations. He is the editor of both Sutour, an international literary magazine, and the Egyptian Theater magazine. He has been a professor of English and chair of the English department at Cairo University and is the recipient of many honors and awards. Mohamed Metwalli, an editor and translator, is the co-founder and co-editor of Garad (Locusts) magazine.