Born in Egypt in the 1920s, Waguih Ghali was an essayist and novelist most well-known for his 1964 novel Beer in the Snooker Club. In this novel, set in 1950s Egypt, Ghali explored themes related to Gamal Abdel Nasser's regime and the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis. In addition to this novel, Ghali authored a number of essays for The Guardian before his death by suicide in 1969. For literary scholars, historians, and others interested in learning more about Ghali and his writing, Cornell University has digitized a number of the author's unpublished works. This collection of works were obtained by Deborah Starr, Associate Professor of modern Arabic and Hebrew literature and film at Cornell. The collection includes two unpublished fiction manuscripts, six diaries, and 51 pieces of correspondence, all available in PDF format. The correspondence included in this collection features letters between Ghali and his friend and romantic partner, literary editor Diana Athill. One highlight of this collection is the Literary influences section, which helpfully directs visitors to sections of Ghali's journals in which he discussed other writers, including Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, and James Baldwin.
Comments