Dr. Hosam Elzembely and Dr. Emad El-Din Aysha will join us to speak about their latest book, Arab and Muslim Science Fiction: Critical Essays (McFarland, 2022).
The first book of its kind, Arab and Muslim Science Fiction is a compendium of first-person experiences, primarily from Arab and Muslim authors, about the evolving and still struggling field of science fiction in their respective countries. There are only two or three titles out there dealing with Arabic science fiction but none written by the actual practitioners in the field with 45 contributors in total, 14 of whom are women, covering 29 countries on 4 continents.
Themes that the book explores include the diversity of science fiction writing in the Arab and Muslim worlds, commonalities across time and space, the growing number of women authors in the field, the role of political independence and decolonization in the embrace or rejection of science fiction, and the younger generation’s search for cultural authenticity and identity in writing SFF. Arabic science fiction, and Egyptian SF more specifically, also has its own distinct brand of post-apocalypse, dystopia and steampunk subgenres, and increasingly cyberpunk as well. Environmental considerations are also high on the list of our priorities as Arab and Muslim authors. All in all, Arab and Muslim SF can make a major contribution to both world SFF and also SFF produced in the Global South.
Dr. Hosam A. Ibrahim Elzembely is an accomplished science fiction author with three novels to his name and seven edited volumes of short stories published on behalf of the Egyptian Society for Science Fiction (ESSF), is a prominent member of the Egyptian Writers’ Union with scientific
publications in English and Arabic, and has represented Egypt at sci-fi forums and conferences. He is the director and founder of the ESSF and is also a medical practitioner and professor of ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Egypt. He lives in Cairo, Egypt.
Dr. Emad El-Din Aysha is an academic researcher, freelance journalist and translator and author, a member of both the ESSF and Egyptian Writers’ Union. He has a PhD in International Studies from the University of Sheffield and has taught at the American University in Cairo and Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development. He has translated a number of novels from Arabic to English, is a regular contributor to online conferences on SFF, and has two books to his name – an anthology of sci-fi stories (in Arabic) and his first coauthored, coedited book, Arab and Muslim Science Fiction (McFarland, 2022).
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The number of seats is limited and we work on first-come first-served basis. We open our doors at 6:30 and close them at 7:15 or earlier in case the lecture room reaches its full capacity. This talk will not be recorded nor livestreamed.
