Plain Talk

By Mursi Saad El-Din

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The presence of South African Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer and French writer Robert Solé at this year's Book Fair certainly enhanced the importance of the event. What is more, the seminars they graced with their presence provided the chance for the young, who formed the majority of the audience, to become acquainted with some of the latest developments in the cultural world.

The participation of these two established literary figures brought back memories of long ago, when the meetings of Egyptian men of letters and European, American, African and Asian writers was a perfectly regular occurrence. Those were the days when " Dar Al-Odabaa " (the house of men of letters) in Qasr Al-Aini St was the hub of cultural exchange in Egypt.

That place, which is now derelict and pity rousing, used to be the lighthouse of culture in Cairo -- it was the meeting point between East and West. Back then, the Egyptian Writers Union, the Arab Writers Union, the Afro-Asian Writers Bureau, and the Egyptian Centre for PEN -- the world union of writers -- were all to be found in that same building. There were almost daily meetings, either to discuss recently published Egyptian titles, the situation of Arab writers, or the relation between the literatures of different parts of the world. In this vivid centre, we entertained writers from England, Germany, Italy, France and America. Likewise we had meetings with writers from Ghana, Cameroon, the Portuguese colonies, Guinea, Senegal, Kenya and Nigeria -- all writers who had achieved fame with their works.

I still remember with affection Kwame Nkrumah, with his philosophical treatises, Sekou with his revolutionary works, Nyrere with his scholarly knowledge and Senghar with his poetry. It was a phase in our life which, unfortunately, is gone never to return. It was a time when Youssef El- Sebai was secretary-general of the Egyptian Writers Union, and Tewfik El-Hakim was chairman of the Egyptian Centre of PEN. In that cultural centre, the "lighthouse", we entertained writers from all corners of the globe. And that was a healthy attitude. We were open to the world, from Japan to Sweden to South Africa to America and all in between. We felt we could offer as much as we received -- the exchange of ideas was the meetings' receipt for success.

Through the PEN I can claim to have met some of the greatest writers: Pablo Neruda, Charles Morgan, E M Forester, Graham Greene, Arthur Miller, William Styron, Norman Mailer and many others from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. Through the Afro-Asian Writers Bureau we met such famous authors as Chenua Achebe.

I remember when in Holland in 1954, I went with E M Forester to the University of Leiden where he was given an honourary PhD and I have previously reported what he said about his books on Alexandria. I also wrote about Graham Greene taking us on a tour of Brighton, to explain his novel about the city. Which leads me to the point I am trying to make: while we can certainly celebrate the important contribution of two great authors today, we must never forget that the interest of famous writers in our part of the world is certainly not a novelty. Cairo was always a crucible, a meeting place for culture -- in the form of literature, art or theatre.

I sincerely hope that the recent visit of the two writers will be the beginning of yet another phase in our cultural life. And here I will quote the first item of the PEN Charter: "Literature, national though it be in origin, knows no frontiers, and should remain common currency between nations inspite of political or internation al upheavals." The rest of the Charter deserves to be read and applied.