Egyptian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988 and was the first Arabic writer to be so honored. -
Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of LiteratureMahfouz was know for his portraits of contemporary Egyptians balancing tradition with the modern world, his Cairo Trilogy (
Palace Walk,
Palace of Desire, and
Sugar Street) is generally considered his masterpiece. Also known for his moderate politics, at the age of 82 he survived a stabbing by a militant assassin acting on a fatwa inspired by his 1959 novel
Children of Our Alley.
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