Fatma Qandil (Author) is an Egyptian author, poet, playwright, and translator. She is associate professor (emerita) in the Department of Arabic at Helwan University in Cairo and deputy editor-in-chief of Fusul, a magazine of literary criticism. She has published numerous collections of poetry, works of literary criticism, and translations into Arabic, and her nonfiction has been translated into many languages. Empty Cages is her first novel and first book to be available in English. She currently lives in Cairo, Egypt.Adam Talib (Translated by) is associate professor in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations at the American University in Cairo, co-editor of the journal Middle Eastern Literatures, and a scholar of classical Arabic poetry. His translation with Katharine Halls of Raja Alem's The Dove's Necklace was awarded the Sheikh Hamad Award. He is also the translator of Khairy Shalaby's The Hashish Waiter (Hoopoe, 2018) and Mekkawi Said's Cairo Swan Song (Hoopoe, 2019.)

"A gripping read . . . a raw meditation on grief and survival."—The National"It's language of sheer beauty and power . . . I found myself gasping at times when Qandil delivered one of her many incisive lines."—The Markaz Review"Astonishing . . . exceptional . . . lit from within by unexpected humor."—Shelf Awareness"Raw, tenderly crafted."—ArabLit“Profoundly intimate.”—Arab News“Fatma’s writing is magnificently fluid . . . Few writers possess Fatma's boldness in this lifetime.”—The New Arab"One of the most emotionally resonant translated Arabic books to emerge in recent years."—Mille World"The poetry and emotion behind Qandil’s prose shines throughout the entire book."—Washington Report on Middle East Affairs"Stunning . . . a really exciting first novel."—Mizna“Very daring”—The Berliner“Empty Cages is a beautiful, lingering novel.” —Foreword Reviews"Beautiful and daring. In rich prose, we catch sight of poignant truths, which encompass both hope and disappointment, the weakness of human character and the struggle to resist it, and the pain and pleasure of discovery."—Hussein Hammouda, Cairo University"Fatma Qandil has successfully created a novel of the self. All her memories are transformed into idols, which she then destroys. She stays there, sweeping up the dusty remains of those idols, even though she may be one herself."—Thaer Deeb, Deputy Director of the Translation Unit at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies"Fatma Qandil's language is sly. Whenever we catch hold of a thread, we discover it only exists in our imagination. Her genre-mixing, redrawing boundaries or erasing them entirely, is itself an act of freedom"—Shereen Abouelnaga, Cairo University"An unflinchingly honest portrayal of the relationships of violence that lie beneath the surface of an ordinary, middle-class Egyptian family."—Dina Heshmat, American University in Cairo