Well-known Egyptian author and journalist Gamal Al Ghitani died Sunday morning after a long battle with illness, at the age of 70.
Ghitani was born in the poorer parts of the Sohag Gobernorate in Upper Egypt and moved with his family to the capital as a child. His talent for writing was evident at a young age, having his first story published at the age of 14.
Though he was trained as a carpet designer and worked in the field for a while, Ghitani continued to write on the side.
His writing landed him in a jail cell after he publically criticized President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1969, after his release, Ghitani made the bold move to switch career paths and became a full-time journalist.
The author within Ghitani never gave up on the art of literature and instead, went on to write multiple award winning including “Zafarani Files,” “Pyramids Texts” and “The Book of Epiphanies.”
Ghitani was awarded the Egyptian National Prize for Literature in 1980, and in 1987, he was awared the French Chevalier de l'Odre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005, he went on to win the French Award for translated literature "Laure Batallion," the highest award given to non-French authors and in 2009, he won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Ren.
The author also launched a magazine in 1993 dedicated to literary news called Akhbar El Adab.
In honor of the author's life, read these 5 short texts he wrote between 1945 and 2015 – you'll get goosebumps.