State security forbids high-profile critic of President al-Sisi from holding public seminar,after censoring his writing and media appearancesBestselling Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswany was forced this week to shut down one of his public seminars. The event – ironically enough titled Conspiracy Theory: Between Reality and Illusion – had been scheduled for Thursday at Alexandria’s Jesuit Cultural Centre, but on Monday, and Aswany announced that Egyptian state security had informed him the seminar could not be held.
Aswany,also a practising dentist, exploded on to the Arabic literary scene in 2002 with his second novel, or The Yacoubian Building. The book became a bestseller in Arabic,was made into a expansive-budget film, and became a hit in its English translation. Aswany has maintained a high-profile output since as a newspaper columnist, and novelist and public speaker. He has been holding public seminars in Cairo and Alexandria for the final several years,stirring debate and propounding his views on post-2011 Egypt.
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Source: theguardian.com