Celebrating the good and the great of Arab Sci-Fi
The past few days have been bittersweet for the evolving realms of Arab science fiction. The recent elation of Ahmed Saadwai being shortlisted for the International Man Booker Prize for his novel Frankenstein in Bagdad was preceded by heart-breaking news that Ahmed Khaled Towfik is no longer with us. After a period of prolonged illness, he died of a heart attack on 2 April 2018 in El-Demerdash hospital, Cairo, at the age of 55.
By day, Dr Ahmed Khaled Towfik practised as a medical professor at Egypt’s Tanta University. Over time, he was an obsessively prolific writer who became the Arab world’s most prominent bestselling contemporary author of Sci-Fi, fantasy and horror genres. He is claimed to have written over 500 titles of which one third is science fiction, including his Arabic translations of English Sci-Fi.
His influence on Egypt’s zeitgeist cannot be emphasised enough; he was regarded a public intellectual as much as a pillar of SF literature, frequently hailed by Egyptians as the ‘Godfather of popular culture’. Through his writing, he showed unwavering dedication to mentoring a generation of younger fans who had brought him fame and success.
The outpouring of affection from Egyptians mourning his loss is not just because he was a talented writer. To the humble masses, he was a relatable, friendly figure who stood up against social injustice and oppressive dictatorship. For Tawfik, the realm of Sci-Fi was a catharsis to safely vent his deep frustration with politics, poverty and class divisions. He ingeniously mastered the craft of dystopia as an allegorical tool to make a scathing commentary on Egypt’s status quo whilst averting censorship.
Amongst his most influential bestsellers is Utopia (BQFP 2011), a dark and chilling novella set in a futuristic dystopian gated enclave in Cairo during the year 2023. The grim storyline ends in a revolution-like climactic scenario that was eerily more prescient than even he could imagine at the time, three years before any rumblings of the Arab Spring.
Utopia was published in English, by the now-defunct Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation, after its original publication in Arabic in 2008.
I had the privilege of interviewing Ahmed Khaled Towfik for a panel I chaired as part of the Shubbak festival in 2015. Sadly, I never got to meet him in the flesh as even then his heart condition was too delicate for him to travel. In proper Sci-Fi fashion, we beamed him up via Skype, live from his home in Tanta in Egypt (if only we had a teleporter!). He proved to be a sterling interviewee; his beaming smile, energetic wit and charm shone through to a rivetted packed audience seated in the British Library’s auditorium.
As far as I know, there aren’t readily available interviews of him speaking in English, so this audio recording of him as a panellist at the Shubbak Festival is truly a precious gem from the archive.
The panel also included Jonathan Wright who at the time was in the midst of translating of Frankenstein in Baghdad, now available for purchase in English and has become a sensation with reviewers and critiques. We were also joined by playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak, author of a short story about an alien invasion of Baghdad.
Timestamps:
(Intro) Heavy Makeup animated music video, feat Homayoun Shajarian
(2.50 mins) Discussion starts
(8.27 mins) Ahmed Khaled Towfik intro
(32.34 mins) Film clip feat Ahmed Saadawi made by International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2014
(35.50 mins) Jonathan Wright reads translated excerpt from Frankenstein in Baghdad
(40.13 mins) Discussion of Utopia
(48.05) Audible audio extract of Utopia, translated by Chip Rosetti and narrated by Neil Shah
(54.27) Ahmed Khaled Towfik responds to audience Q&A
Writer and audience member, Naomi Foyle, asks the panel a pertinent philosophical question on the relationship between metaphysics, faith and science at 55.44 mins. You can hear more of her insights alongside other stellar speakers at the next Sindbad Sci-Fi event at the British Library on 28 April 2018 as part of MFest.
Ahmed Khaled Towfik leaves behind a rich and multifaced legacy worthy of deeper study, ensuring he will be fondly remembered, respected and revered for many more years to come. His industrious mind is a fine reminder for all of us dreamers and procrastinators seeking to challenge, imagine and create change to just do it! RIP.