The Florida Center for the Literary Arts and Miami Dade Public Library System launch a new phase of the Big Read with the selection of Nobel Prize Laureate Naguib Mahfouz’s The Thief and the Dogs. The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

The Center is one of only four U.S. organizations selected to promote the Big Read Egypt/U.S., a global cultural exchange program undertaken by the U.S. Department of State and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz

From October through November 2008, the Center invites everyone to read Naguib Mahfouz’s The Thief and the Dogs.

About The Thief and the Dogs
Written in 1961, The Thief and the Dogs is the story of Said Mahran, a thief recently released from jail and intent on having his vengeance on the people who put him there. The book, set in a post-revolutionary Egypt, shows how resentment, reprisal and destitution can shape and shatter human destiny.

About Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz is the best-known and most widely respected 20th century writer in Egypt, if not the entire Arab world. His novels, set in 20th century Egypt, delve into cultural and political issues such as the position of women in Egyptian society and the treatment of political prisoners. In 1988, he became the first Arabic writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in 2006. Read more here.

Links
21 years old and the World is yours in Cairo: ABC news World news Tonight with Charles Gibson
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/21AroundtheWorld/story?id=4648801&page=1 
 
The Nobel lecture
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1988/mahfouz-lecture.html
 
Naguib Mahfouz: The son of two civilizations
http://nobelprize.org/cgi-bin/print?from=%2Fnobel_prizes%2Fliterature%2Farticles%2Fmahfouz%2Findex.html
 
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
http://www.bibalex.org/English/index.aspx
 
Interview with Alaa Al Aswany
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0609/voices.html

Where Alaa Al Aswany is writing From, NY Times  Magazine, April27, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/magazine/27aswany-t.html?ref=magazine

As Yacoubian Building sets to head west, The author discusses the story’s message
Daily New Egypt, December 8, 2005
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=157

Event Highlights:

• A Journey to the Past at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Thurs., Oct. 2
Launching of the Big Read campaign at Miami Dade Public Main Library with the participation of Dr. Azza El-Kholy.
6:30 p.m. – Miami-Dade County Library, 101 W. Flagler St., Miami

• FREE TO KNOW: KEEPING THE DOORS OPEN
Friday, October 3
Dr. Azza El Kholy, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, addresses the role of libraries and literature where minds meet and borders disappear. Co-presented by The Wolfsonian-FIU as a Freedom Friday event celebrating Thoughts on Democracy.
7 p.m. - 1001 Washington Ave., Miami Beach

At Miami Book Fair International
• Opening of the Egypt Pavilion
Sun., Nov. 9, 6 p.m.
Featuring an exhibit on the cultural history of Egypt and a week full of special activities.

• Echoes on Women’s Voices
Sat., Nov. 15, 1 p.m.
A panel discussion on how Naguib Mahfouz’s female characters reflect women’s status in contemporary Egypt with the participation of
Dr. Marilyn Booth, professor of Arabic Literature; Dr. Amani Asfour, president Egyptian Business Women; Michal Goldmann, film director of Umm Kulthum; Moderated by Molly Thomas-Hicks from the NEA

• Recreating Mahfouz’s Café
Sat., Nov. 15, 4:30 p.m.
Informal discussion of Mahfouz’s work after a reading in Arabic and English of excerpts from The Thief and the Dogs.

In October and November, The Big Read campaign will launch a series of events to explore Egyptian literature and showcase the riches of Egypt’s cultural heritage, including a film series in association with Miami International Film Festival, screening classics such as:

• Umm Kulthum directed by Michal Goldmann and narrated by Omar Sharif
Official Launch of The Big Read in Miami
Tuesday, October 7, 7 p.m.
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami Memorial Building, Second Floor
Campo Sano Drive, Coral Gables

• El Calejón de los Milagros directed by Jorge Fons
Based on Mahfouz’s novel Midaq Alley
Wednesday, October 8, 7 p.m.
Tower Theater
1508 S.W. Eighth Street
Little Havana

• Principio y Fin directed by Arturo Ripstein
Based on a screenplay by Naguib Mahfouz
Tuesday, October 14, 7 p.m.
Tower Theater
1508 S.W. Eighth Street
Little Havana

• Adrift on the Nile directed by Hussein Kamal
Based on a screenplay by Naguib Mahfouz
Monday, October 20, 7 p.m.
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami
Memorial Building
Second Floor
Campo Sano Drive, Coral Gables

• The Yacoubian Building directed by Marwan Hamad
Adapted from the novel by Alaa Al Aswany
Wednesday, October 23, 7 p.m.
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami, Memorial Building, Second Floor
Campo Sano Drive, Coral Gables

• Chased by the Dogs (El less wal Kilab) directed by Kamal El Sheiken
Based on Mahfouz’s novel The Thief and the Dogs
Tuesday, October 28, 7 p.m.
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami, Memorial Building, Second Floor
Campo Sano Drive, Coral Gables

• Umm Kulthum directed by Michal Goldmann and narrated by Omar Sharif
Friday, November 14, 7 p.m.
Egypt Pavilion
International Village at Miami Book Fair International
Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus
300 N.E. Second Avenue, Downtown Miami

• Cleopatra: First Woman of Power narrated by Anjelica Houston
Saturday, November 15, 4:30 p.m.
and Sunday, November 16, 3:30 p.m.
Egypt Pavilion
International Village at Miami Book Fair International
Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus
300 N.E. Second Avenue, Downtown Miami