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.

In the 1970s, once-cosmopolitan Alexandria was at the forefront of the clash between Nasser’s socialist-era principles and the burgeoning fundamentalist movement. Five idealistic students find themselves caught up in this tangled web, as their leftist activism makes them a target both from government surveillance and the Islamist groups seeking to curtail the city’s social life. The group of friends’ participation in the explosive ‘bread riots’ is swiftly followed by the crushing experience of prison, and the course of their young lives changes irrevocably.The final part in Ibrahim Abdel Meguid’s Alexandria trilogy conjures up this turbulent era in rich detail. This story of young love, aspiration for social change, disillusionment and frustration will resonate with readers today.