Ahmed Atef (Cairo)

Egyptian writer and novelist Nahla Karam is currently working on a new text and writes every day, noting that every night before going to bed she writes slowly and pauses for a second, and this text “if you concentrate on it for two full days. , you can finish it”, but he doesn’t want to, because he wants to prolong as much as possible the state of balance you feel when writing, the psychological balance, the will to live one more day to finish the text, the emptying Forget all the negative thoughts and focus on one thing… the text I’m working on.
Nahla Karam added to Al-Ittihad that she loves sports, flexibility exercises and yoga. I am different in life than when I write.

life in turmoil
About her life in Cairo and her influences, Nahla Karam noted that she was born and lived all her life in a noisy popular neighborhood, sometimes waking up to the sound of her neighbors and other times to the sound of her neighbors. The seller added, “I grew up on two voices, the hustle of Cairo and the hustle of my area, but I’ve gotten used to it.” This hustle and bustle and I can’t imagine myself out of it. I was very interested in this, if I had grown up in a different and quieter place, I would be the same person who appreciates the quiet moments while writing and enjoys them as if they were moments of dreams, so the answer is no.
The Egyptian novelist explained that his experience makes him appreciate those quiet moments when he sits at night in the hall at home and writes, noticing that at that moment he is isolated from all sound, so it makes no sense to him. he. If the neighbor’s child suddenly screams, or if the neighbor’s children stand on the stairs to fight over something, it doesn’t matter.
And about the feeling of fear necessary for the heroes and heroines of his novels and stories, Nahla Karam highlighted that he really does not know and almost thinks about this subject for the first time, probably because he himself is afraid of almost everything and breathes this fear of people contagiously, after all, fear is a common feeling among everyone, even those who don’t show fear are afraid of something deep down, explaining: “I always like to find out what’s behind it. Obvious behaviors, either inside me or around me. I always start with myself and dig deeper to learn about the characters I write about.”

between reality and fantasy
About the scenes of his work, the Egyptian novelist says that his novel “Hanging in the air” was his first work, and he cried the night before the signing ceremony, because it was printed and people read it, and despite its lack. His writing confidence that night was the first thing that gave him confidence after he started reading for people and after being shortlisted for the Sawiris Cultural Award.
Nahla Karam believes that her novel “Back Seats” is the last thing she wrote in the life of late novelist Makkawi Saeed and wanted to relive it to celebrate her release with him. He felt sorry for the professor and wished he were here to tell him.
As for the preference for realism or fiction, he highlighted that each one has a time and a method of narration.