Using Life (novel)
Artist: Ahmed Naji
Year: 2016
Date of Action: 2016
Region: Middle East
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Literature
Confronting Bodies: Egyptian censorship board
Description of Artwork: Ahmed Naji's novel, Using Life, anticipates a dystopian end for Cairo at the hands of a secretive group of architects. Naji wrote the experimental novel in collaboration with illustrator Ayman al-Zorqani. The novel is an experiment on the themes of sex and drugs in a context of censorship and persecution. Naji is recognized for his writings on contemporary art and indie music. Using Life is. Naji’s second novel; it has been curated into exhibitions, an animated film, and a multimedia performance.
The Incident: Chapter 6 allegedly made a reader feel things that made him uncomfortable.
Results of Incident: The novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji — along with his editor, Tarek al-Taher — was tried, and upon appeal, re-tried for the publication of an excerpt of his novel Using Life in Akhbar al-Adab, As of December 4, 2016, Naji remains in jail but is on the 2nd presidential pardon list.
Source:
Jailed Egyptian novelist Naji on 2nd presidential pardon list: Committee Member, Menna Alaa El-Din, al-Ahram, Sunday 4 Dec 2016
Three New Short-short Stories by Imprisoned Writer Ahmed Naji BY MLYNXQUALEY, Arabic Literature (in English) on DECEMBER 3, 2016
Egypt: Laughter in the Dark, Zadie Smith, New York Review of Books, Dec 2, 2016
‘Using Life’: A Novel Excerpt on Trial in Egypt, BY MLYNXQUALEY, Arabic Literature (in English) on JANUARY 25, 2016
Egyptian Novelist Ahmed Naji and Editor Tarek al-Taher Will Go Back to Court in ‘Public Morals’ Case, BY MLYNXQUALEY, Arabic Literature (in English) on JANUARY 13, 2016