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Midnight in Cairo: A Book Discussion with Raphael Cormack
AUC Tahrir Bookstore, Tahrir Cultural Center
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Details
About "Midnight in Cairo":
1920s Cairo saw singers pressing hit records, new theaters and dramatic troupes springing up, and cabarets packed—a counter-culture was on the rise. In bars, hash-dens and music halls, people of all classes and backgrounds came together as a passionate group of eccentrics, narcissists, and idealists strove to entertain Egyptian society.
Of these performers, Cairo's most prominent stars were female, and they asserted themselves on the stage like never before. Two of the most famous troupes were run by women; Badia Masabni's dancehall became the hottest nightspot in town; pioneer of Egyptian cinema Aziza Amir made her stage debut, and legendary singer Umm Kulthum first rose to fame. These women knew the opportunities and prejudices that this world offered, who best revealed this cosmopolitan and raucous city's secrets.
**Limited seating, a mask is required at all times, proof of vaccination is required upon entry**
Speakers
Raphael Cormack
Author, Award-winning Editor and Translator
Raphael Cormack lived in Cairo for several years and his writing on Arabic literature, culture and history has appeared in the London Review of Books, Prospect, TLS, and Apollo Magazine, among others. He is the co-editor of The Book of Khartoum and the editor of The Book of Cairo.