Rotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in Egyptian Prison

In this searing memoir, Egyptian journalist and novelist Naji (Seven Lessons Learned from Ahmed Makky) shares his experiences in prison after his writings were deemed offensive to public morality. In 2014, an Egyptian literary magazine published a section of Naji’s second novel, Using Life, which led to a complaint from a reader that the excerpt made him physically ill. That complaint, in turn, led to a criminal investigation, and charges that Naji’s writings were a “malicious violation of the sanctity of morals.” Naji was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to two years in prison; he served 10 months before being resentenced to a fine and allowed to leave the country. Here, he provides a blunt, detailed account of his months behind bars (“Once you arrive in prison, you never know when they’ll let you piss”) that sees him learning to mollify guards, playing chess with pieces made from carved soap, and—on several occasions—nearly starving. “Like anybody who gives a shit about the public good in Egypt, I expected to go to prison at some point,” he jokes in one passage, but his humor doesn’t diminish the impact of this harrowing account. In lucid prose undergirded by righteous anger, he delivers a moving testament to the power of free expression. It’s tough to forget.(Oct.)