American University in Cairo

Tues 21, 7-8pm (Online Event): "Ihsan Abdel-Kouddous (1919–1990)" a special virtual book discussion, co-sponsored by Stanford University Press. Featuring Jonathan Smolin, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College and translator of I Do Not Sleep and A Nose and Three Eyes, in conversation with Sherif Abdel-Kouddous, independent journalist and grandson of Ihsan Abdel-Kouddous. Gretchen McCullough, fiction writer, literary critic, and senior instructor at the AUC, will moderate the discussion. The discussion will explore Abdel-Kouddous's life, works, and politics, focusing on the first of his novels translated into English by Jonathan Smolin— A Nose and Three Eyes and I Do Not Sleep — both published by AUC Press under its fiction imprint, Hoopoe. The event will also explore Jonathan Smolin's latest book, The Politics of Melodrama: The Cultural and Political Lives of Ihsan Abdel Kouddous and Gamal Abdel Nasser, published by Stanford University Press. Don’t miss this engaging discussion on Zoom meeting on https://e.cglink.me/2kZ/r300109456. Streamed live on the AUC Press Facebook page.

The Consulate

5 El-Fadl St, Behind Al-Abd patisserie, Bab Al-Louq, Abdeen, Cairo, Tel 0100 5658050/01096072229

Mon 20, 6.30pm: Book signing and discussion ceremony for the book 

“A Journey with the Self: Sufism and the Art of Institutional Politics” written by Dr. Mustafa Ismail Sarhank and published by Al-Ain Publishing House. Director and founder of Al-Ain Publishing House Fatimah El-Boudy will 

attend the book signing.  

German Archaeological Institute Cairo

31 Abu El-Feda St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2735 1460

Wed 22, 6pm (Lecture is in English): "Exploring Egypt: Histories and Historiographies" seminar titled, "I Shall not Interfere in the Matter: British Politics and the Excavation of the Tomb of Tutankhamun" features Prof. Tom Hardwick. 

Resumption of the "Exploring Egypt: Histories and Historiographies" seminar sessions is a joint initiative of the Ifao and DAIK, joined this year by the CAI, PCMA and NVIC.

The 9th session of the seminar series will be hosted at the German Archaeological Institute. Hardwick is an Egyptologist and curator who studied in the UK, USA, and Egypt. His research interests include Pharaonic Egyptian sculpture and material culture, the history of collecting Pharaonic Egyptian objects, and the history of Egyptology (It is open to the public in the limit of available places).

ALEXANDRIA 

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Chatby, Alexandria 21526, Tel (03) 4839999 

BA's Conference Centre, Delegations Hall 

Tues 21, 12pm-3pm: "The Unknown Papers of Imam Mohamed Abdu" symposium is organized by BA's Centre for Islamic Civilization Studies in the Academic Research Sector. 

Speakers are: Imad Abu-Ghazi, Professor at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, and former Minister of Culture, and Walid Ghali, Professor at the Institute for Islamic Civilization Studies, Aga Khan University in the United Kingdom. The symposium will discuss a collection of papers, pictures, and handwritten documents preserved at Aga Khan University in London, some of which were written by Imam Mohamed Abdu in 1838 AD. It will also shed light on the intellectual development of Abdu, the enlightener and religious reformer, who participated with all his efforts in the Egyptian national movement. 

Diwan

Km 6, Alex-Cairo Desert Road, inside City Centre, Alexandria 

Thurs 16, 7pm: A public seminar that will include discussion and signing of the works of the writer Ghada Kareem.  

* A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly