Ibrahim Abdel Meguid – författare

While the fading autumn sun sped toward the horizon, the young boys headed home - they were not used to trying to see at night without the moon's glow. So begins this uncoventional, hauntingly mythic novel. In the tradition of magical-realism, author Ibrahim Abdel Megid crafts a tale steeped in symbolism. Writing in a shimmering lyrical style he brings alive the dreams, customs, and everyday concerns of people living in historic obscurity on the fringe of the glitzy, petrodollar kingdoms of the Middle East. The tale begins on a worksite in Egypt's western desert. Here, in the middle of nowhere, railway men and locals wait in hope for the annual return of a ""distant train."" When last it came this vehicle brought with it foreigners, soldiers - and economic opportunity; then it stopped. Each of Megid's characters is allegorical in nature. Each part of the novel is framed by memory and the way remembrance takes shape and affects the characters. The story's main characters are time and place. Yet its dramatic thrust is the way in which place gives rise to history through the passage of time and the rise and fall of settlement. ""Distant Train"" reaffirms Megid's status as a new, imaginative, and distinct voice in the field of narrative literature and the time-honored arena of storytelling.

"e;While the fading autumn sun sped toward the horizon, the young boys headed home-they were not used to trying to see at night without the moon's glow."e; So begins this unconventional, hauntingly mythic novel. In the tradition of magical realism, author Abdel Meguid crafts a tale steeped in symbolism. Writing in a shimmering lyrical style, he brings alive the dreams, customs, and everyday concerns of people living in historic obscurity on the fringe of the glitzy petro-dollar kingdoms of the Middle East.The tale begins on a worksite in Egypt's western desert. Here, in the middle of nowhere, railway men and locals wait in hope for the annual return of a "e;distant train."e; When last it came, this vehicle brought with it foreigners, soldiers, and economic opportunity; then it stopped. Each of Abdel Meguid's characters is allegorical in nature. Each part of the novel is framed by memory and the way remembrance takes shape and affects the characters. The story's main characters are time and place. Yet its dramatic thrust is the ways in which place gives rise to history through the passage of time and the rise and fall of settlement. Distant Train reaffirms Abdel Meguid's status as an imaginative and distinct voice in the field of narrative literature and the time-honored arena of storytelling.

On June 13, 1974, Shagara, a low-level employee at the Alexandria shipyard, is charged with taking workers to cheer for the motorcade of Egyptian President Sadat and his guest President Nixon. Instructed to pay each worker half a pound at the end of Nixon’s visit, Shagara pays them half that, spares them the festivities, and pockets the difference. So begins The House of Jasmine, which follows Shagara, a loner who yearns for female companionship, as he traverses the city of Alexandria and tries to parse his feelings toward its changing landscape. Within the humor of this classic novel is nestled an indicting eyewitness account of this essential period of Egyptian history. In it one can observe the social changes and popular sentiments that comprise the prologue for the Egyptian revolution of January 2011.