A plethora of literary activities are accompanying the inauguration of the Arab Writers Union's new premises in Islamic Cairo, reports Rania Khallaf As the Weekly went to press, writers from across the Arab world were gathering at the Salah Eddin Citadel in Cairo to celebrate the inauguration of new premises for both the Egyptian and the Arab Writers Unions. Last night's opening ceremony, attended by minister of culture Farouk Hosni, was scheduled to include the awarding of prizes for creative writing and literary criticism, as well as of certificates of merit to the heads of the various Arab writers unions. The Arab Writers Union's new premises, provided by the Egyptian ministry of culture, will serve as the organisation's headquarters, following a unanimous vote to move back to Cairo in November 2006 during which Egyptian playwright Mohamed Salmawy was elected as chairman. The Union had previously been based in Damascus after Egypt's signature of the Camp David Accords with Israel. Since the 2006 decision was taken, renovation work on the spacious new premises has been underway, culminating in yesterday's inauguration. The cost of the renovation work, estimated at LE2 million, was provided by Egyptian businessmen, Salmawy told the Weekly. Following yesterday's inaugural gala dinner and concert, celebrations continue today with morning lectures by Indian writer Amitav Ghosh and Egyptian scholar Abdel-Wahab Elmessiri. Ghosh, the author of In an Antique Land, a historical novel set in Egypt, among other works, will lecture on "Egypt in Indian literature," while Elmessiri will talk about "Death in Poetry" with special reference to Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The Mexican writer and editor of Latin America's leading arts magazine, Artes de Mexico, Alberto Ruy-Sànchez, will talk at 6pm about the "Arab Presence in Mexican Culture," and there will be a poetry reading by Sudanese poet Mohamed el-Fitouri at 8pm. There is an art exhibition in one of the building's galleries that features a limited-edition book containing the English text of the Ancient Mariner together with an Arabic translation by Elmessiri and illustrations by painter Rabab Nimr. Also on display are artist Nazli Madkour's illustrations to a text by Naguib Mahfouz on the Arabian Nights produced by the Limited Editions Club in New York. The Arab Writers Union will hold a board meeting following the new building's inauguration, designed to discuss the agenda of its next general meeting that takes place next month in Tunisia. One of the issues on the Union's agenda is the question of the structure of the Union and the formation of regional unions in countries such as Iraq, Bahrain and Algeria, where former structures no longer exist. Among the Union's recent activities has been the publication of reports on freedom of expression in the Arab world. The first report was published following the Union's general conference in Oman last year, and the second is being finalised ready for the Tunisia meeting in May. Beside their lectures at the Writers Union, Ghosh and Ruy-Sànchez have also been undertaking other activities in Cairo. Yesterday, Ghosh delivered a lecture at the American University in Cairo entitled "The Making of In an Antique Land : India, Egypt and the Cairo Geniza," and tomorrow both Ghosh and Ruy-Sànchez will be at the Diwan Bookshop in Zamalek to sign their books. Published in 1992, In an Antique Land, one of Ghosh's most popular works, looks at the history of India and Egypt during the 12th century through the eyes of a traveler. The book is based on correspondence found by Ghosh that was written in 1132 between Abraham Ben Yiju, a Jewish merchant living in India, and Khalaf ibn Ishaq from Egypt. In the margins of these letters, Ben Yiju's slave Bomma is often mentioned with a special note of affection. Ghosh's desire to learn more about this correspondence brought him to Egypt in 1980, where he stayed for almost five years, sifting through letters and manuscripts referring to historical trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean and tracing Bomma's possible journey from India to Egypt. Born in 1956 in Calcutta, India, Ghosh was educated at Delhi and Oxford universities and now lives and works in New York. His other novels include The Circle of Reason (1986), The Shadow Lines (1990), The Calcutta Chromosome (1995), The Glass Palace (2000) and The Hungry Tide (2004).
