The seminar, hosted by the Russian Cultural Centre in Cairo as part of the fair’s “Cultural Experiences” programme, examined how the two writers portrayed society’s lower strata and responded to political and social constraints, speakers said.

Opening the session, Sherif Gad, head of cultural activities at the Russian Cultural Centre, said both Mahfouz and Gorky moved beyond local contexts to gain global literary stature, noting that their works have been translated into dozens of languages. He said both faced censorship, citing the long ban on Mahfouz’s Children of the Alley in Egypt and restrictions on Gorky’s novel Mother in Russia due to its revolutionary themes.

“Both writers gave voice to the marginalized and portrayed society’s lower strata with striking realism,” Gad said.

Mohamed Nasr El-Gabaly, a professor of Russian literature at Ain Shams University, said Mahfouz was influenced by Russian writers including Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Gorky, particularly their realist approach and psychological depth.

El-Gabaly said Mahfouz adapted Russian realist techniques to the Egyptian context, turning Cairo’s alleyways into universally resonant literary spaces.

“He absorbed the art of Russian realism and applied it to Egyptian society, making the local accessible to the global reader,” he said.

El-Gabaly highlighted similarities in how Mahfouz and Gorky depicted marginalised characters, describing them as morally complex figures embedded in their societies rather than idealized victims.

He cited Chekhov’s short story The Death of a Government Clerk as an example of Russian literature’s focus on psychological nuance, an approach he said Mahfouz later reflected in his own work.

El-Gabaly also pointed to Gorky’s social role in Russia, arguing that the writer addressed the struggles of workers and the poor while positioning himself between state authority and social reality.

Both speakers stressed the importance of translation between Arabic and Russian as a foundation for sustained cultural exchange between the two countries.

Concluding the seminar, Gad said literature remains a key tool for cross-cultural understanding, adding that translation must convey cultural context as well as language.