It seems it was women and children first, so to speak, on the culture circuit this year. The Minister of Culture also came under fire for a book burning comment, but it was the National Theater that actually went up in flames.

With female bloggers gaining attention and popularity, Al Shorouk Publishing House launched a project at the beginning of the year to compile the works of three female bloggers into books. The book that has garnered the most attention and criticism is Ghada Abdel Aal’s Ana Ayza Atgawez (I Want to Get Married). Written in colloquial Arabic, both Aal’s book and blog take a light, humorous look at women’s tribulations living in a male-dominated country where marriage is their only path to freedom. Ghada Mohamed Mahmoud’s blog Ma’aa Nafsi (By Myself) has also been turned into a book of life stories by the same name. Blogger Rehab Bassam, who is also the book project’s manager, has published her collection of children’s stories Orz Belaban Leshakhseen (Rice Pudding for Two) as well as Ama Hazih Fa Raqsati Ana (This is My Dance), a short story written in colloquial Arabic about her thoughts on life.

The streets were astir over former police Colonel Omar Afifi’s book Ashan Matitdiribsh Ala Afak (So that you don’t get hit on the nape of the neck), which hit bookstores in March, and was confiscated by authorities almost immediately after. The book describes in layman’s language a citizen’s legal rights when he or she is dealing with authorities such as the police. Afifi fled to the United States in mid-April, shortly after the books were confiscated.

The controversial Jewel of Medina, a historical fiction about the life of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) wife Lady Aisha bint Abi Bakr by American journalist Sherry Jones, hit select bookstores in October 2008, just not in the way the author had planned. The book project was shelved by Random House, the US’s biggest publishing house, after Denise Spellberg, an associate history and Middle Eastern studies professor at the University of Texas in Austin, advised Random House not to publish it, describing the book as “a very ugly, stupid piece of work” and “soft core pornography.” In September 2008, Beaufort Books, another independent publishing house picked the book up and released it in October. Middle East countries including Egypt have boycotted Sherry’s work and banned the book from being sold in their countries.

Mohsen Allam Political columnist Magdy Mehanna

Barely one month after the Shura Council building caught fire, flames engulfed Cairo’s landmark National Theater in September. The fire, started by an electrical short in the air conditioning system, completely destroyed the main hall, sending three firefighters to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The theater, built in 1935, is currently being repaired and renovated.

The second half of 2008 marked a new era for the Cairo Opera House when the traditional cultural forum began targeting young people as its main audience. Throughout September, the Opera House ran Kahwa Sada (Sugarless Coffee), a play written and performed by youth for youth. The performers were all students at the Acting Institute. Written in colloquial Arabic and rife with slang, Kahwa Sada is a commentary on deteriorating Egyptian taste and increasing materialism, including a vignette comparing the strong voices and beautiful lyrics of legendary Arab singers Omm Khalthoum and Fairouz, to the weak sounds and songs of balady rapper Shaaban Abdel Rehim and popstar Ricko.

If the teens and 20-somethings came for the coffee, they stayed for Stomp. In October, the international group of street percussionists, which has won 11 international awards and performed in 42 countries, returned to Cairo for a much better-publicized performance than their 2007 show, which went virtually unnoticed. The up-and-coming new generation — those with LE 400–LE 1000 to drop on tickets — enthusiastically filled the main hall for four consecutive days, with their only complaint being that they had to wear formal attire to the show.

Khaled Abu El Naga with international superstar Susan Sarandon at the opening of the 32nd Cairo Film Festival

The thirty-second Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) in November also had young people in its sights, with Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni announcing in an interview with local Channel 1 that there would be discounted tickets for youth. With Omar Sherif as honorary president of the festival, the CIFF drew major names including Hollywood actors Susan Sarandon, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Julia Ormond, Alicia Silverstone and Stuart Townsend.

When Minister of Information Anis El-Fiqqi awarded the prizes at the fourteenth annual Arab Media Festival, held in Cairo this November, he did not spend much time pressing palms with his colleagues. Not one single member of the Egyptian News Network, Egyptian National Television, or the Egyptian Satellite Network received an award, and according to Al Wafd newspaper, most of Egypt’s TV presenters boycotted the closing ceremony.

Egypt did win first prize for talk shows Aalamat Al-Ghouri (Signs of Al-Ghouri) and Sport Light. Egyptian TV series Asmahan, and Ragel we Sit Sitat (A Man and Six Women), both of which aired during Ramadan, were also among the winners, as well as Zil El-Moharib (Shadow of a Warrior) and the children’s dramas Ibn Katkouta (Son of Katkouta) and Fares El-Kamar El-Khamis (Knight of the Fifth Moon).

Hosni, the longest serving minister in Egypt, has been nominated to become the next general director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after current General Director Koichiro Matsuura’s second term ends in October 2009. Earlier this year, Hosni came under international scrutiny and his bid to succeed Matsuura was threatened when he announced that he would burn any Israeli books in any library in the country. The Israeli government responded with an angry message to UNESCO saying that he should not be nominated for the position because his viewpoints do not reflect what the UNESCO’s top official should represent. Following Israel’s outcry, Hosni claimed that he did not mean what he had said and that the issue should be put to rest.

In November, Egyptian playwright Ali Salem, known for memorable plays such as 1971’s Madrasit El Moshaghbeen (School of Troublemakers), received an award from the US-based Train Foundation for his “resistance to evil at great personal risk.” The award recognizes Salem for his efforts to make peace with Israel and speak out against Islamic extremism.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Damietta native Salem said that President Sadat’s historic visit to Israel inspired him to travel there with the aim of getting to know its people and to better understand them. Upon his return, Salem published a book in Arabic titled Journey to Israel in 1994 about his trip, which subsequently led to his expulsion from the Egyptian Writers’ Federation.

In 2008, the book was translated into both Hebrew and English. Salem is the author of 25 plays and 15 books, in addition to being a journalist for the UK-based newspaper Arabic-language Al Hayat. He is also a cofounder of the Cairo Peace movement.

Following her controversial 2007 role in Hena Maysara (When Things Get Better), Somaya Khashab opted to switch from acting to singing.

In Memoriam

ENAYAT SAAD EL-DIN, renowned educator and wife of Egypt Today’s Editor-in-Chief Dr. Mursi Saad el-Din, CBE, passed away in March after a brief illness. Enayat worked briefly with BBC’s Arabic Service before starting as a teacher in 1957 at the former English School, now known as El-Nasr School. By the end of her 30-plus-year career, she had risen to become the school’s first female principal and was lauded by international dignitaries, including the late US President Ronald Reagan, for her tireless work promoting educational exchange between Egypt and the US.

DR. YOUNAN LABIB RIZK, one of Egypt’s most celebrated historians, passed away in January at the age of 74. Rizk wrote a weekly column for Al-Ahram called “A Diwan of Contemporary Life.” He was awarded the State Merit Award in Social Sciences in 1995 and the Mubarak Award in Social Sciences in 2004.

HAMED EL-OWEIDY, a world-renowned calligrapher, music critic and political activist passed away in March. El-Oweidy served as art director for Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, and his designs graced a number of books and publications such as Al-Ahali (which he helped found with this colleagues), Al-Arabi, Al-Karama, Al-Qahira, Sout El-Omma, among many others. He was the husband of Egypt Today Senior Writer Manal el-Jesri and left behind brilliant, gifted twins.

AMAL CHOUCRI CATTA, the noted Austro-Egyptian artist, journalist and, most recently, the music and ballet critic for Al-Ahram Weekly, passed away in March. Catta studied violin as a youth in Egypt and Austria; she also studied singing under the Austrian composer Adolf Pauscher. Her paintings have been shown in exhibitions throughout Europe and North and South America.

SALAH EL-DEEN HAFEZ, a prominent Egyptian writer who spent the later part of his journalism career advocating press freedom, died in November at the age of 70. In the late 1960s and early 70s, he served as secretary general of both the Egyptian Press Syndicate and Arab Journalists Union. He also helped found the Arab Human Rights Organization in the 1990s.

Political columnist MAGDY MEHANNA passed away in March. Mehanna was most famous for his daily column Fil Mamnou (In the Forbidden Zone) in Al Masry Al Youm. Mehanna began with the left-leaning Al-Ahali newspaper, then moved to the state-owned Rose El-Youssef, from which he took a leave of absence to become editor-in-chief of the opposition daily Al-Wafd, where he first penned Fil Mamnou.

Filmmaker YOUSSEF CHAHINE passed away in July at the age of 82. Perhaps the world’s most respected Arab filmmaker, Chahine started his career in 1950 with Baba Amin, and one year later his film Ibn Al-Nil (Son of the Nile) landed him an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival. Other memorable works include Al Maseer (Destiny) and El Nasr Salah El Din (The Victorious Salah El Din). In 1997, he received a lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival. Chahine’s work remained controversial to the end, with his final project, Heya Fawda, (This is Chaos, completed by protégé Khaled Youssef) drawing fire for its blunt look at corruption, political oppression and police torture in Egypt. et