In-Person Book Discussion: The Country Doctor’s Tale in Diwan
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Join us at Diwan for an evening with the acclaimed Egyptian novelist Mohamed Mansi Qandil and translator R. Neil Hewison.
The event will celebrate "The Country Doctor’s Tale," published by Hoopoe in 2026 for Egypt and the Middle East.
The evening will open with a bilingual reading from the novel, followed by a conversation moderated by Nadia Wassef, co-founder of Diwan Bookstore, and a Q&A with the audience.
Date: Monday, 9 November 2026
Time: 7–8:30 pm
Venue: DIWAN Bookstore, Zamalek Branch
RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3Uoa1wd
Set in rural Upper Egypt in the early 1980s, the novel explores forbidden love, political corruption, and the tensions between tradition and desire.
About the Author: Mohamed Mansi Qandil trained as a physician and spent two years working at the medical center of a small village in al-Minya, Upper Egypt, before leaving medicine to focus on writing. He is the author of several collections of short stories, nonfiction titles, children’s books, and five novels, including Moon over Samarqand, which won the Sawiris Prize for Literature in 2006, and A Cloudy Day on the Western Shore, which was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2010.
About the Translator: R. Neil Hewison has a long history of working with Egyptian literature, both as an editor and as a translator.
Formerly AUC Press’s associate director for editorial programs, Hewison’s deep familiarity with Egypt and its literary landscape has informed his translations of works by some of the country’s leading writers, including Yusuf Idris, Yusuf Abu Rayya, Gamal al-Ghitani, and Naguib Mahfouz. He currently lives in the village of Tunis in Fayoum.
"The Country Doctor’s Tale" was published in Arabic in 2020, translated into English by Hewison, and published by Hoopoe in 2026.
Learn more about the novel: https://aucpress.com/9781649036292/
The event will celebrate "The Country Doctor’s Tale," published by Hoopoe in 2026 for Egypt and the Middle East.
The evening will open with a bilingual reading from the novel, followed by a conversation moderated by Nadia Wassef, co-founder of Diwan Bookstore, and a Q&A with the audience.
Date: Monday, 9 November 2026
Time: 7–8:30 pm
Venue: DIWAN Bookstore, Zamalek Branch
RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3Uoa1wd
Set in rural Upper Egypt in the early 1980s, the novel explores forbidden love, political corruption, and the tensions between tradition and desire.
About the Author: Mohamed Mansi Qandil trained as a physician and spent two years working at the medical center of a small village in al-Minya, Upper Egypt, before leaving medicine to focus on writing. He is the author of several collections of short stories, nonfiction titles, children’s books, and five novels, including Moon over Samarqand, which won the Sawiris Prize for Literature in 2006, and A Cloudy Day on the Western Shore, which was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2010.
About the Translator: R. Neil Hewison has a long history of working with Egyptian literature, both as an editor and as a translator.
Formerly AUC Press’s associate director for editorial programs, Hewison’s deep familiarity with Egypt and its literary landscape has informed his translations of works by some of the country’s leading writers, including Yusuf Idris, Yusuf Abu Rayya, Gamal al-Ghitani, and Naguib Mahfouz. He currently lives in the village of Tunis in Fayoum.
"The Country Doctor’s Tale" was published in Arabic in 2020, translated into English by Hewison, and published by Hoopoe in 2026.
Learn more about the novel: https://aucpress.com/9781649036292/
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Where is it happening?
Diwan Bookstore, 159 شارع 26 يوليو, القاهرة, القاهرة, مصر, Cairo, Egypt
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherThe American University in Cairo Press (AUC Press)
