Rowayat is a biannual journal by Egyptian authors for Egyptian readers. Its title is the Arabic word for “narratives” or “novels”, but unlike a variable slew of government-supported and independent cultural publications in Arabic, this is an all-English, almost all-fiction affair. The first issue is 76, four-colour pages in large format, an appropriate tribute to a first-of-its-kind initiative by founder and managing director Sherine ElBanhawy. “The main idea of the journal was my passion for writing,” she said. “I write in English. We have a group on Facebook for writers who attended the workshop by Lina Cleary, who is now Editor-in-Chief of Rowayat.” But it took far more courage, ElBanhawy implies, to face the issue of English in Egypt head on. “The idea began to brighten as I travelled all around the world. I saw magazines of literature and journals in large numbers and types all over the US and Europe and there is no such journal in Egypt. Of course there are some published in Arabic, like Akhbar Al-Adab and Adab wa Naqd, but — I realised that we have had a large number of talented authors who write in English for a long time ago...” But it's not just English. Rowayat aims to crossing boundaries to offer a closer look at figures across time and language writing in Egypt. C P Cavafy, for example, is seen as a Greek poet even though he was born and raised in Alexandria. “I want to spread this side of Egyptian culture, like the fact that not so many people know that Wagih Ghali wrote a significant novel in English 50 years ago, Beer in the Snooker Club,” a new translation of which just appeared with Dar El Sherouk. “Even I found out about him not that long ago.” With plans to amplify Arabic in English translation in forthcoming issues, ElBanhawy hopes to clarify this position further. “In the debut issue we have a tribute to Ahmed Fouad Negm by Mohammed El Shabba and poems by Gihan Omar in English translation. Rowayat is a chance for various emerging authors in Egypt who write in English but also for Arabic writing, in cooperation with the AUC Press. The AUC Press is a significant publishing house in the field of Arabic works in English translation, and they do that for many Egyptian authors. My dream is to place Rowayat at the forefront of the international cultural scene. I regard it as an opportunity to present the work and talent of Arab authors to the world, offering those writers and international publishing houses a chance for cooperation and paving the way to awards...” Thus the Rowayat office in London, where ElBanhawy hopes to capitalise on success stories like Ahdaf Soueif. She wants to focus on selling not only the journal but also the rights to its contents and its authors' work outside of Egypt — in Europe and North America especially. This also explains the hefty LE100 price tag: “It simply takes this much to produce it. After all it's a biannual publication with over 20 authors per issue, more in the order of a paperback than a magazine. It's also a collector's item. A publication of this quality will cost that much the world over. Of course, we have yet to see how well we'll do in the business cycle.” Rowayat is for abroad and for the small number of people who read English in Egypt, and it is driven as much by the lack of any such journal as by the abundance of material it could cater to. It covers three categories of author: emerging writers, established writers and students whose work is selected through a competition. “Students with passion for writing are the future. An emerging writer cannot abruptly produce a perfect or complete piece. The idea of familiarising potential professionals with the concept of the writing process and allowing them to belong to it, following a word count and a deadline and sending in their work will make them far readier to develop.” Starting in the next issue, the competition will be divided into two sections for school and university students. ElBanhawy was still surprised to find 12 year old contestants, however, and is already thinking about Rowayat Kids for next year. This issue's competition winner is Samma Ayman, whose piece, “Musée des Beaux Arts”, borrows its title from W.H. Auden's 1938 poem. “In the competition we have judges of different nationalities,” ElBanhawy explains: “Egyptian, American and British. We have people to whom English is the mother tongue and people with the cultural awareness of Egypt. They evaluate pieces through a standard form that covers various skills and achievements. There is a great deal of promising talent...” Non-winners are are given the chance to be reviewed by readers on the web site. Starting with the next issue, which will be significantly larger in size, ElBanhawy says, Rowayat will focus on one Arab country each time it is published. The first country to be featured is Syria, and the issue will include an interview with Khaled Khalifa, the winner of Naguib Mahfouz Medal. “But everybody is shocked to hear that Rowayat is print-only, this is like the ultimate taboo,” ElBanhawy laughs. To remedy the situation, a smart phone application is being developed. ElBanhawy likes the idea of an object to be handled and lent out to friends. “The application is still in development, but we're trying to make it as interactive as possible. If there is an interview in the print edition, for example, I'd like to see a video of it on the application. I'd also love to include fiction games. The point is — the content won't be identical across platforms.”
