Under the slogan “The largest young writers' gathering ever”, the Dawen publishing house organised the first Young Writers' Literary Festival at the Kalima (Word) Hall in Al Sawy Culturewheel: a large-scale one-day event. Owned and operated by five young people, Dawen aimed to instigate dialogue between young writers and their readers on literature in the face of religious extremism under Muslim Brotherhood rule. Participants sent a clear message that they will give in to no such mind control. “The young will draw Egypt's future,” said Mohamed Mufid, the general manager. With signings and readings, from 4 to 6 pm, over 20 young writers presided over the free distribution of over 420 volumes. And there were so many attendees most had to stay standing. Doaa Farouk, a TV anchor and the author of Eshteri menni (Buy it), presented the first part of the event, stressing that what and how you write is more important than how famous you might be. She introduced the festival guests: vernacular poet and humourist Omar Taher and the publishing manager at Nahdat Misr publishing house Nashwa Al-Hofi. Thanking Dawen, they both expressed pride and enthusiasm and mentioned the threat of Islamisation. Before discussing some of his books, Taher said the evident success of the festival, with so many people there, gave the lie to the government's organisational abilities, and promised a bright future. Al-Hofi spoke about her experience as a writer, encouraging young writers to pursue their dreams. Also presented were poet Mohamed Al-Sayed, novelists Sherine Hana'i and Sherif Abdel-Hadi and the well-known writer-filmmaker Amr Salama, who discussed the difference between writing and filmmaking, saying writing will remain a unique and incomparable creative activity, books being “the original source of knowledge”. All praised the festival and its role. A half-hour concert by singer Yasser Al-Manawhly was followed by poet Ashraf Tawfik introducing the next group of guests: humourist Ghada Abdel-Aal, the author behind the popular TV series ‘Ayza Atgawwez (I want to get married); film star Hind Sabry, the star of the series; writer Mostafa Shohaib; the youngest published author in Eygypt, Ali Hesham, 15; and writer Amira Al-Desouki. Abdel-Aal stressed the role of her writing in the success of the TV series, while Al-Desouki and Shohaib both said that, while a true talent will always find its way to success, no one should expect the journey to be fast or easy. Hesham expressed immense pride and joy. “I want readers to read my book because they like it and because it adds to them,” he said, “not just because I'm the youngest writer in Egypt.” Afterwards the author and human development expert Karim Al-Shazli introduced Ahmad Abou Khalil, author of the book I Was Once an Islamist, with poets Mohammed Tolba Radwan and Doaa Abdel-Wahab. Abou Khalil explained that, despite the title of his book, he was never a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or a Salafi; it is a reference, rather, to being born in a Muslim Brotherhood family. “I was so close I knew many details about the rules and way of life of Muslim Brothers,” he said. Radwan said he tried to present a different style of poetry in his book, the better to express what Egypt is suffering from these days. Abdel-Wahab, for her part, read one of her poems. The audience responded enthusiastically during the last part of the festival, presented by the writer and the Orbit channel presenter Mohamed Fathy. His guests included the celebrated novelist Ahmed Mourad, author of Vertigo and, most recently, Al-Fil Al-Azraq (The Blue Elephant). Fathy also introduced Hassan Kamal, the Swaris Award winner; and Ihab Meawed, the marital relations expert and writer. Mourad, who like Salama was welcomed with great enthusiasm, said he did not normally participate in cultural events. This festival is different, he said, because it was organised by young people for young people. For his part Meawed explained how the personal experience of any author affects that author's career. “I wrote my first book and decided to earn a diploma in marital relations after a big quarrel with my wife,” he said, laughing. Referring to the new, pro-Muslim Brotherhood Minister of Culture, both Mourad and Kamal stressed the idea that nobody can change Egypt's cultural identity to serve their agenda. “We are moving ahead and will defend Egyptian culture against all attempts at domination by the Muslim Brotherhood,'' Mourad said. Finally the well-known hip-hop artist Zap Tharwat appeared on the stage, to great applause that included the audience shouting “Zap, zap” for ten whole minutes.
