Abdelrahman ElGendy
@elgendy95.bsky.social
Egyptian writer and translator from Cairo.
Author of HUNA, forthcoming from Hogarth, Penguin Random House.
https://www.abdelrahmanelgendy.com/
Author of HUNA, forthcoming from Hogarth, Penguin Random House.
https://www.abdelrahmanelgendy.com/
Years later, in exile, a scholarship allowed me to pursue my three-year MFA at the University of Pittsburgh, my first real college experience. While many cringed at walking at the graduation commencement, I couldn’t wait.
May 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Years later, in exile, a scholarship allowed me to pursue my three-year MFA at the University of Pittsburgh, my first real college experience. While many cringed at walking at the graduation commencement, I couldn’t wait.
I graduated in 2019 without ever setting foot on campus. On graduation day, my class held up a banner with my face and a symbolic standing ovation to recognize the could-have-been friend they had never met, but whose journey they carried with them. I was released by a miracle months later.
May 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I graduated in 2019 without ever setting foot on campus. On graduation day, my class held up a banner with my face and a symbolic standing ovation to recognize the could-have-been friend they had never met, but whose journey they carried with them. I was released by a miracle months later.
I was arrested from a protest the day before my freshman year at the German University in Cairo. A year in, my scholarship was revoked and I was barred from exams. I transferred to Ain Shams University, and over six years in prison, I studied for my mechanical engineering degree.
May 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I was arrested from a protest the day before my freshman year at the German University in Cairo. A year in, my scholarship was revoked and I was barred from exams. I transferred to Ain Shams University, and over six years in prison, I studied for my mechanical engineering degree.
Two days ago, I officially earned my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. But, for the second degree in a row, a dictatorship robbed me of a graduation day. 🧵
May 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Two days ago, I officially earned my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. But, for the second degree in a row, a dictatorship robbed me of a graduation day. 🧵
Humbled to share that my work has received the support of the Elizabeth George Foundation. I feel very blessed to be among the last cohort of authors to receive this support, yet sad to see one of the very few major grants for writers since 1998 end.
الحمدلله.
الحمدلله.
January 22, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Humbled to share that my work has received the support of the Elizabeth George Foundation. I feel very blessed to be among the last cohort of authors to receive this support, yet sad to see one of the very few major grants for writers since 1998 end.
الحمدلله.
الحمدلله.
Justin Torres’ Blackouts is a dizzying, most interesting read in both narrative form and hybridity of media.
A book that wields erasure to reckon with erasure, reclaiming obliterated narratives in the process.
#BookSky
A book that wields erasure to reckon with erasure, reclaiming obliterated narratives in the process.
#BookSky
December 11, 2024 at 6:50 AM
Justin Torres’ Blackouts is a dizzying, most interesting read in both narrative form and hybridity of media.
A book that wields erasure to reckon with erasure, reclaiming obliterated narratives in the process.
#BookSky
A book that wields erasure to reckon with erasure, reclaiming obliterated narratives in the process.
#BookSky
Here’s to Palestine, where all roads lead.
Here's to love, which is to say, here's to revolution.
الحمد لله.
Here's to love, which is to say, here's to revolution.
الحمد لله.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
Here’s to Palestine, where all roads lead.
Here's to love, which is to say, here's to revolution.
الحمد لله.
Here's to love, which is to say, here's to revolution.
الحمد لله.
Here's to everyone I shared cells with over 6 years across 8 detention facilities: to the riots and hunger strikes, to the bread we broke, the laughs we stole, and the tears we shed, as we dreamed of days like today for each of us, and let the dream hold us for one more night.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
Here's to everyone I shared cells with over 6 years across 8 detention facilities: to the riots and hunger strikes, to the bread we broke, the laughs we stole, and the tears we shed, as we dreamed of days like today for each of us, and let the dream hold us for one more night.
Here's to my case, the October 6, 2013 Azbakeyya protest group, and the 24 case members still behind bars. Here's to 60,000 Egyptian political prisoners languishing behind the bars of our brutal military dictatorship, funded and upheld by the American empire.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
Here's to my case, the October 6, 2013 Azbakeyya protest group, and the 24 case members still behind bars. Here's to 60,000 Egyptian political prisoners languishing behind the bars of our brutal military dictatorship, funded and upheld by the American empire.
Here's to my family—Baba, Mama, Salma, and Hashem—to whom I owe every breath I draw. Here's to Ayman, who kept me laughing, which is to say, kept me human. To Ayman, who, in his 11th year in prison today, no longer has anyone to curve his lips into a smile.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
Here's to my family—Baba, Mama, Salma, and Hashem—to whom I owe every breath I draw. Here's to Ayman, who kept me laughing, which is to say, kept me human. To Ayman, who, in his 11th year in prison today, no longer has anyone to curve his lips into a smile.
Immense gratitude to my brilliant agent, Jin, for always believing, and to the Hogarth team for giving me and Huna a home.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
Immense gratitude to my brilliant agent, Jin, for always believing, and to the Hogarth team for giving me and Huna a home.
After a miraculous release in 2020, 5 years toiling in exile around the world, until I arrived in the US late 2022, wedging my foot in door after door designed to keep people like me out, & the circle has at last come full. The prison fantasy, real. The witness, inscribed.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
After a miraculous release in 2020, 5 years toiling in exile around the world, until I arrived in the US late 2022, wedging my foot in door after door designed to keep people like me out, & the circle has at last come full. The prison fantasy, real. The witness, inscribed.
When I failed to dodge the whips and the jailers’ curses, I dreamed of how the pages, one day, would do me justice.
Huna is not merely a project about how I survived over six years of political incarceration in Egypt. This project; this is it. This is how I survived.
Huna is not merely a project about how I survived over six years of political incarceration in Egypt. This project; this is it. This is how I survived.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
When I failed to dodge the whips and the jailers’ curses, I dreamed of how the pages, one day, would do me justice.
Huna is not merely a project about how I survived over six years of political incarceration in Egypt. This project; this is it. This is how I survived.
Huna is not merely a project about how I survived over six years of political incarceration in Egypt. This project; this is it. This is how I survived.
It struck me: I get to shape the chapters of my memoir while living them, not just by my scribbles, but with my own body.
We’d be face-down on the ground, strip-searched and stomped on, and I’d think: at least this will be a poignant scene in the memoir.
We’d be face-down on the ground, strip-searched and stomped on, and I’d think: at least this will be a poignant scene in the memoir.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
It struck me: I get to shape the chapters of my memoir while living them, not just by my scribbles, but with my own body.
We’d be face-down on the ground, strip-searched and stomped on, and I’d think: at least this will be a poignant scene in the memoir.
We’d be face-down on the ground, strip-searched and stomped on, and I’d think: at least this will be a poignant scene in the memoir.
When I pressed my pen to paper in my first detention cell at 17 years old and wrote prison down, I knew that writing would save my life. For six years and three months in prison, I viewed my surroundings through the lens of a work under construction—my book.
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
When I pressed my pen to paper in my first detention cell at 17 years old and wrote prison down, I knew that writing would save my life. For six years and three months in prison, I viewed my surroundings through the lens of a work under construction—my book.
The once-fantasy that sustained me through six years and three months in Egyptian prisons has come to life: my book will be released into our world. 🧵
December 3, 2024 at 11:33 PM
The once-fantasy that sustained me through six years and three months in Egyptian prisons has come to life: my book will be released into our world. 🧵
@therakha.net’s The Dissenters is an English book where Arabic pulses under each letter.
With immaculate craft, symbolism, and a masterful chaos of time, it unfolds an Egyptian woman’s life in spirals across decades to unearth a self, a country, and a revolution lost.
With immaculate craft, symbolism, and a masterful chaos of time, it unfolds an Egyptian woman’s life in spirals across decades to unearth a self, a country, and a revolution lost.
November 30, 2024 at 12:49 AM
@therakha.net’s The Dissenters is an English book where Arabic pulses under each letter.
With immaculate craft, symbolism, and a masterful chaos of time, it unfolds an Egyptian woman’s life in spirals across decades to unearth a self, a country, and a revolution lost.
With immaculate craft, symbolism, and a masterful chaos of time, it unfolds an Egyptian woman’s life in spirals across decades to unearth a self, a country, and a revolution lost.
I call on you to raise your voice for Laila. Your dollars pay for this. Write and read about her strike. Show solidarity. None of us are free, until all of us are free.
Life for Laila and freedom for Alaa.
#FreeAlaa
#الحرية_لعلاء_عبد_الفتاح
#أدعم_إضراب_ليلى
#تجوع_ليحيا
Life for Laila and freedom for Alaa.
#FreeAlaa
#الحرية_لعلاء_عبد_الفتاح
#أدعم_إضراب_ليلى
#تجوع_ليحيا
November 27, 2024 at 10:23 PM
I call on you to raise your voice for Laila. Your dollars pay for this. Write and read about her strike. Show solidarity. None of us are free, until all of us are free.
Life for Laila and freedom for Alaa.
#FreeAlaa
#الحرية_لعلاء_عبد_الفتاح
#أدعم_إضراب_ليلى
#تجوع_ليحيا
Life for Laila and freedom for Alaa.
#FreeAlaa
#الحرية_لعلاء_عبد_الفتاح
#أدعم_إضراب_ليلى
#تجوع_ليحيا
a person who, buried in her own dire circumstances, always holds an abundance of love and solidarity to extend to fellow sufferers.
Laila's life is now in danger. Her heart—which always had room for all of our pain—now needs us more than ever.
Laila's life is now in danger. Her heart—which always had room for all of our pain—now needs us more than ever.
November 27, 2024 at 10:23 PM
a person who, buried in her own dire circumstances, always holds an abundance of love and solidarity to extend to fellow sufferers.
Laila's life is now in danger. Her heart—which always had room for all of our pain—now needs us more than ever.
Laila's life is now in danger. Her heart—which always had room for all of our pain—now needs us more than ever.
I first met Laila Soueif in person during my sixth year in prison at Tora Maximum Security, as she and her daughter Mona arrived to visit Alaa. I was entering the visitation hall just as they underwent their rigorous, segregated security checks and search.
November 27, 2024 at 10:23 PM
I first met Laila Soueif in person during my sixth year in prison at Tora Maximum Security, as she and her daughter Mona arrived to visit Alaa. I was entering the visitation hall just as they underwent their rigorous, segregated security checks and search.
Today marks day 60 of Laila Soueif's hunger strike and day 20 of our consecutive one-day hunger strikes in solidarity with her.
Today I start a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with Laila, a 68-year-old Math professor and one of the revolutionary icons of Egypt’s left. 🧵
Today I start a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with Laila, a 68-year-old Math professor and one of the revolutionary icons of Egypt’s left. 🧵
November 27, 2024 at 10:23 PM
Today marks day 60 of Laila Soueif's hunger strike and day 20 of our consecutive one-day hunger strikes in solidarity with her.
Today I start a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with Laila, a 68-year-old Math professor and one of the revolutionary icons of Egypt’s left. 🧵
Today I start a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with Laila, a 68-year-old Math professor and one of the revolutionary icons of Egypt’s left. 🧵
248 notes that study, sing, observe, record "the everyday sonic and haptic vocabularies of living life under brutal regimes."
A lyrical work with stunning—yet expected—insight from @hystericalblkns.bsky.social
A text whose where abolition is indeed another word for love. 🤍
#BookSky
A lyrical work with stunning—yet expected—insight from @hystericalblkns.bsky.social
A text whose where abolition is indeed another word for love. 🤍
#BookSky
November 26, 2024 at 3:06 AM
248 notes that study, sing, observe, record "the everyday sonic and haptic vocabularies of living life under brutal regimes."
A lyrical work with stunning—yet expected—insight from @hystericalblkns.bsky.social
A text whose where abolition is indeed another word for love. 🤍
#BookSky
A lyrical work with stunning—yet expected—insight from @hystericalblkns.bsky.social
A text whose where abolition is indeed another word for love. 🤍
#BookSky
A sharp grappling with disappearance, grief, and selfhood, threaded with incisive cultural criticism and socio-political commentary, all held in a cascading prose poem that one wishes would never end.
Cannot recommend @julianthepoet.bsky.social’s The Dead Don't Need Reminding enough.
#BookSky
Cannot recommend @julianthepoet.bsky.social’s The Dead Don't Need Reminding enough.
#BookSky
November 21, 2024 at 6:59 PM
A sharp grappling with disappearance, grief, and selfhood, threaded with incisive cultural criticism and socio-political commentary, all held in a cascading prose poem that one wishes would never end.
Cannot recommend @julianthepoet.bsky.social’s The Dead Don't Need Reminding enough.
#BookSky
Cannot recommend @julianthepoet.bsky.social’s The Dead Don't Need Reminding enough.
#BookSky
When Robinson Crusoe discovers a mysterious footprint on the island, he runs in terror. What does it mean to enter literature as the owner of that footprint, not the colonizer? How do we read the world from the wreck?
Masterful text from the brilliant Dionne Brand. Loved every page.
#BookSky
Masterful text from the brilliant Dionne Brand. Loved every page.
#BookSky
November 21, 2024 at 5:02 PM
When Robinson Crusoe discovers a mysterious footprint on the island, he runs in terror. What does it mean to enter literature as the owner of that footprint, not the colonizer? How do we read the world from the wreck?
Masterful text from the brilliant Dionne Brand. Loved every page.
#BookSky
Masterful text from the brilliant Dionne Brand. Loved every page.
#BookSky
Lena Khalaf Tuffaha wins the National Book Award for Poetry for her collection, Something About Living!
Congrats to the National Book Awards for this honor. 🇵🇸
#BookSky
Congrats to the National Book Awards for this honor. 🇵🇸
#BookSky
November 21, 2024 at 2:42 AM
Lena Khalaf Tuffaha wins the National Book Award for Poetry for her collection, Something About Living!
Congrats to the National Book Awards for this honor. 🇵🇸
#BookSky
Congrats to the National Book Awards for this honor. 🇵🇸
#BookSky