Mekkawi Said was born in Cairo in 1955. His first novel won the Suad Sabbah Arab Creativity Prize in 1991. Cairo Swan Song, his second novel, was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the 'Arabic Booker') in 2008.

About the Author

Mekkawi Said was born in Cairo in 1955. His first novel won the Suad Sabbah Arab Creativity Prize in 1991. Cairo Swan Song, his second novel, was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the 'Arabic Booker') in 2008.

Reviews

Mustapha and his circle's lives are, perhaps, too carefully a crafted mosaic of Egypt's educated middle classes, however, given the city's political and social climate, that may be about right. Either way, it seems hard to argue with the air of desperation and resignation Said's characters and prose evoke. -- David Goldblatt The Independent 20100219 '...Cairo Swan Song does hold up a mirror to something very real about the line between art, charity, and profiting off other people's exotic misery' -- M. Lynx Qualey Rain Taxi 20100301