Too much water David Blake hears the songs which win through to dry land	Portrait of an artist The portrait, the still-life -- two unfashionable genres to which Sabry Ragheb, who died this week, devoted much of his life and all of his considerable talents. Below, Al-Ahram Weekly records personal reminiscences of the artist as both 'friend and mentor', together with the last interview Sabry Ragheb gave By Hosny Guindy and Makram Henein
The francophone predicament With his beadiest eye on the cultural press, Youssef Rakha finds himself wondering whether Paris has accidentally become the Arabs' cultural capital

Plain talk By Mursi Saad El-Din