AUTHOR

THE FUTURE is dark,” says Sonallah Ibrahim, with a chuckle, discussing censorship and the Islamist victory in Egypt’s parliamentary elections. “It has been a beautiful year for freedom of expression and lack of censorship,” he says. But for the immediate future he sees a struggle. “I was just thinking about this yesterday. We are entering a period in which we will have an Islamist parliament and an Islamist government, which means that we will encounter a series of new prohibitions. Right now they talk about wine and bikinis but such subjects will become more of an issue for novels, cinema, and art. We will fight and resist but I am afraid.” he shrugs and smiles.

BANIPAL 43 – SPRING 2012 39