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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Writing in my mind
My recent work -- the very short stories I now write, forced as I am by my infirmity to distill every phrase and every idea until I reach its very essence -- has been compared more than once to haiku.
But this is untrue, if only because Japanese poets are free to choose the terse yet eloquent form of this very stylised poetry.
As for me, necessity has compelled me to be brief; I can only write such short, condensed stories. I can no longer spend much time at my desk: half an hour a day, no more.
Of course, this does not suffice: I can spend many weeks on the same story, but ultimately, its length will be determined by my exhaustion.
In truth, it would not be entirely fair to say that I work only half an hour a day, however: perhaps a single sentence will take half an hour for me to write, painstakingly, correcting a word here, revising an idea there.
But in reality, I can spend days thinking about the story, mapping it out in my mind, until I can actually taste the words. I try out this sentence and that, this variation or that addition: I can see it all clearly. My mind bristles with the many possibilities open to me. Only when I have chosen the line the story will follow, when I have lined up the words in an order that suits me -- only then do I take pen in hand for what I know will be a painful process.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
