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(1962-2018) Egyptian author and translator, whose surname has also been rendered as Towfik. After publishing many works of sf, fantasy and horror (he himself claimed more than 500 original and translated titles, one-third being genre fiction), he became of particular sf interest for Yūtūbiyā (2008; trans Chip Rossetti as Utopia 2011), which depicts two interdependent Near Future societies: an oppressed, resource-deficient Egypt and "Utopia", a large enclave in Europe inhabited by wealthy Egyptians, enriched by their control of an oil substitute. Their contempt for their fellow is so profound (and perhaps so ambivalent) that members of Utopia go on hunting expeditions among the under-classes, bringing back body parts as trophies to affirm their kills. The ending of the tale, in which any revolt is rendered ineffective through various intellectual and organizational failures, may be seen as adumbrating the fate of the Arab Spring of 2012 (see also Politics). [JC]
born Tanta, Egypt: June 1962
died Cairo, Egypt: 2 April 2018
works (highly selected)
about the author
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 14:13 pm on 25 April 2024.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/tawfiq_afmad_khalid>