Abdel Hakim Qasem ( alternate transliteration: Abd al-Hakim Qasim) (1934–1990) is considered one of the most significant authors in Egyptian literature during the past thirty years.Youssef Rakha, "An odd assortment", Al-Ahram Weekly, Issue No. 487, 22-28 June 2000.
Judith Caesar of the American University of Sharjah wrote that Qasem was "relatively little-known".Caesar, Judith (American University of Sharjah). "Book Reviews." Edebiyât, 2003, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 251–268 (content related to this book: 253-255). ISSN 0364-6505 print; ISSN 1477-2841 online/02/020251-18. Taylor & Francis Ltd, DOI: 10.1080/0364650032000143283. Cited page: 253.
Biography He was born in Al Bandara village, near Tanta. During the 1950s he moved to Cairo, and began writing until the 1960s when he was imprisoned for four years, for his political associations, by the Nasser government. He lived in exile in Berlin from 1974 until 1985. He then came back to Cairo, where he died in 1990. He wrote five novels, four novellas, five short story collections, and one play.
Partial bibliography
Novels Ayyam Al-Insan Al-Sab'a (The Seven Days of Man) Qadar Al-Ghoraf Al-Muqbida (The Destiny of Stifling Rooms), 1982 Rites of Assent: Two Novellas, translated by Peter Theroux, introduction by Samia Mehrez. Temple University Press, 1995.
References
Further reading Saleh. "عبد الحكيم قاسم في برلين: لقاء حب وكراهية" (Archive). Deutsche Welle. 12.04.2011.