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.
UPDATE Dec 18: "The two-year prison sentence against writer Ahmed Naji, who has been jailed since February on charges of public indecency, was suspended on Sunday pending review on January 1, 2017." (Mada Masr)
Source:
Court suspends sentence against writer Ahmed Naji, release imminent: Lawyer, Mada Masr, Dec 18, 2016
Egyptian Novelist Jailed on Obscenity Charges to Be Released, By NOUR YOUSSEF, DEC. 18, 2016
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