Ahmed Khaled Tawfik

Ahmed Khaled Tawfik
أحمد خالد توفيق
Born Ahmed Khaled Tawfik Farraag
(1962-06-10)June 10, 1962
Tanta, Egypt
Died April 2, 2018(2018-04-02) (aged 55)[1]
Cairo, Egypt
Occupation Novelist, author and poet. Former professor of medicine at Tanta University, Egypt.
Nationality Egyptian Egypt
Genre Horror, drama and comedy
Notable awards Utopia shortlisted for 2012 Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards[2]

Ahmed Khaled Tawfik Farraag (Arabic: أحمد خالد توفيق‎; June 10, 1962 – 2 April 2018[3]) was an Egyptian author and a physician,[4] also known as Ahmed Khaled Tawfik or Ahmed Khaled Towfik who wrote more than 200 paperbacks. He was the first contemporary writer of horror and science fiction in the Arab world and also the first writer to explore the medical thriller genre.[5][6][7]

Tawfik is considered by many to have been one of the most influential writers of his time. His legacy has influenced thousands of Arab authors.[5]

Biography

Born in June 10, 1962 in the northern Egyptian city of Tanta,[8][6] Tawfik graduated from Tanta University's medical school in 1985.[8] He attained a PhD in 1997.[7] In 1992, he joined the Modern Arab Association publishing company and began writing his first series of novels the following year.[9] In January 1993, he published the first installment in his horror/thriller series Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa (Arabic: ما وراء الطبيعة‎) which translates to Beyond nature or "Metaphysics" .[7][9] He also writes periodical articles for journals and web-based magazines such as El Destoor and Rewayty.[10] His writing style has appealed to both Egyptian and broader Arabic-speaking audiences, gaining him popularity in Egypt and the Middle East.[10]

Tawfik's novels typically feature all Egyptian characters and are set both in Egypt and around the world. Some of his characters are semi-autobiographical. Tawfik draws from personal experiences in their creation; fans consider him their "godfather" and identify him most closely with his character, Refaat Ismael, who was featured in the Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa series.[10] His book Utopia may even reflect Egypt as it is becoming, with rich and poor and no middle-class.[11]

Characters

Refaat Ismael

Refaat Ismael is the main character of Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa. He is a retired doctor who leads a life, chock-full of paranormal experiences. A bachelor with a sarcastic attitude, this character is widely loved by fans of Egyptian pocket novels. Many of Tawfik's fans refer to the author as Refaat Ismail, because they note the similarities between author and character.

Alaa abdel Azeem

Alaa abdel Azeem is the main character of the Safari. He's a young, Egyptian physician who works for a fictitious, medical establishment named Safari, with branches in African countries. Safari's sole purpose is to hunt diseases. The character is married to Bernadette Jones, a Canadian pediatrician. This character is witty, nervous, not the greatest physician but a quick study who enjoys performing surgeries.

Abeer abdel Rahman

Abeer abdel Rahman is the main character of the Fantazia series. She's a simple, Egyptian housewife with average looks, but well read. She marries a handsome, computer programmer, Sherif, who has invented DG-2 (Dream Generator 2), a high tech device that can materialize preexisting human knowledge into dreams. With the device, Abeer has the chance to participate in any story she knows and live with any character- (Superman, Batman, Adham Sabri).

Works

He began writing his stories when he was ten years old and he wrote, in all, more than 500 books.[5] His series Fantasia was the first of its kind; a plot that presents famous literary works to young people, through an interactive presentation. "Fantasia" presented the young Arab reader to a wide spectrum of topics from Arthur Conan Doyle and Sikhism, to Dostoevsky and the Cosa Nostra.

Other works include:

  • An Arabic translation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club.[12]
  • Utopia is about Egyptian people living in a dystopian and utopian society, separated by walls. It's a fictional, political-minded novel, published by Merit, translated into English by Chip Rosetti and chosen to become a major motion picture, with a scheduled release date of 2017.[13][6]
  • Al-Singa (The Knife) is a politically-flavored novel published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing.[14]
  • Just Like Icarus is a fictional political-minded novel, published by Dar El Shorouq.[15]
  • Ahmad Khaled also wrote periodical articles for Al Dostoor.
  • Rewayat (Egyptian pocket novels)[16]
  • Shabib Novel

Death

Ahmed Khaled Tawfik died at El Demerdash Hospital in Cairo, Egypt on April 2, 2018.He died at 55, his death was confirmed by his best friend Dr Ayman El-Gendy. The cause of his death was a “long-term illness”, according to local newspapers.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  2. ↑ Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards, '2012 Nominees' "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Al-Dustour Newspaper: The Death of novelist Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq". www.dostor.org. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "BQFP signs up Ahmed Khaled Taufiq's dystopian novel 'utopia'". The Tanjara. 10 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 Yaqoob, Tahira (16 March 2012). "Ahmed Khaled Towfik, Egypt's doctor of escapism". The National. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Byrnes, Sholto (17 September 2011). "Utopia, By Ahmed Khaled Towfik". Independent. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "Utopia by Ahmed Khaled Tawfik is second best". Ahram Online. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017.
  8. 1 2 Yaqoob, Tahira (16 March 2012). "Ahmed Khaled Towfik, Egypt's doctor of escapism". Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Ahmed Khaled Tawfik / Abu Dhabi International Book Fair". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  10. 1 2 3 "Dr. Ahmed Khaled Tawfik Author Page". Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  11. ↑ Deyaa’, Nada (30 May 2016). "Is Ahmed Khaled Tawfik's Utopia coming true?". Daily News Egypt. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Books by Ahmed Khaled Tawfik". Goodreads. Archived from the original on 26 May 2017.
  13. ↑ Obenson, Tambay (13 May 2015). "Film Adaptation of Bestselling Egyptian Apocalyptic Novel, 'Utopia,' in Development". Indie Wire. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017.
  14. ↑ Ahmed Khaled Towfik. Al-Singa (The Knife). Bloomsbury Academic; 25 October 2013. ISBN 978-99921-95-74-1.
  15. ↑ "Just Like Icarus مثل إيكاروس (Arabic) Paperback – 2015". Amazon.
  16. ↑ "Listopia Best of Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq". Goodreads. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017.
  17. ↑ "وفاة الروائي المصري أحمد خالد توفيق عن 56 عاماً". Al Ain. 3 April 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  18. ↑ Saad, Mohammed (3 April 2018). "Obituary: Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, the godfather of Egyptian horror fiction". Ahram Online. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.


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