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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Comment Focus Special Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The act of writing
Ever since the attempt was made on my life, my right hand has given me trouble. I am undergoing physiotherapy, even today; but my hand simply does not work as well as it used to. This has made writing, for instance, an especially difficult and laborious process, which requires a real physical effort. In the past, it was as natural as walking: I did not think consciously about wrapping my fingers around the pen, taking it up and guiding it along the page. People do not think consciously about putting one foot in front of the other; it is a spontaneous movement. The nerve centres send signals to the muscles, and the feet carry the body forward in a smooth, carefree manner.
The act of writing used to be the same for me. I would think about words or concepts or ideas, not about pushing my pen along a sheet of paper. Now, however, writing itself requires a good deal of concentration, if I am to form legible words running in more or less straight lines. The effort I make to form the letters reminds me of learning to write all over again.
This, of course, means that I am completely unable to work for hours at a stretch, as I used to do every day. I have the energy to write a few paragraphs, so the topics I choose to write about have to be compatible with such brevity: mainly, I now write very short and concentrated stories. I have been writing such short stories for a long time, but they were once the fruit only of artistic necessity. This is not the case today. Still, the ideas are there -- although they do not fly into my mind as quickly and abundantly as before. Nor are they rooted in real life, since I no longer have much contact with the outside world. Today, such stories as I write spring from my memories, my imagination and my knowledge of the past.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
