Penulis: Jennifer Peterson

Mohamed MANSI QANDIL was born in 1949 in the Egyptian Delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra and graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Mansoura University. He has published both novels and short story collections, as well as several children”s books. In addition to receiving the Sawiris Foundation Award in 2006, one of his short story collections was awarded the State Incentive Award in 1988. Mohamed Mansi Qandil lives in Kuwait with his wife and son, where he works as a literary critic and travel writer for the monthly magazine al-“Arabi. It was an al-“Arabi assignment that took him to Uzbekistan, where he met the taxi driver who served as inspiration for the main character in this novel. JENNIFER PETERSON is an independent researcher, writer, and translator residing in Cairo. She holds an MS in Arabic literature and linguistics from Georgetown University.