Ahmed Naji

Ahmed Naji (born 15 September 1985) (Arabic: أحمد ناجي) is an Egyptian journalist and literary novelist. He was born in Mansoura. He has written numerous journalistic and critical articles and published three books: Rogers (2007), Seven Lessons Learned from Ahmed Makky (2009), and The Use of Life (2014). The latter book resulted in his being jailed in Egypt in 2016 for "violating public modesty," due to its sexual content and drug references, marking the first time in modern Egypt that an author has been jailed for a work of literature. The book since been translated by Ben Koerber. Naji was also a regular contributor to Al-Akhbar al-Adab and Al-Masry Al-Youm, among other publications. He served almost 300 days in jail before being released, and later was granted the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award from PEN America. He moved to Washington, D.C., with his wife Yasmin Hosam El Din. He is currently serving his fellowship at Black Mountain Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife and their infant daughter. Early life He was born on September 15, 1985, in Mansoura, Egypt. Growing up, Naji had always been fascinated with mainly comics or books for kids and teenagers. He found a passion for writing at the young age of 10 but knew how dangerous the censorship laws could be while living in Egypt. He worked as a journalist in Mansoura and wrote his first book Rogers in 2007. He first ran into legal trouble in 2015, when a chapter of The Use of Life was published in the state-run literary magazine Akhbar al-Adab. Career In his career, Naji has published a total of three books: Rogers (2007), Seven Lessons Learned from Ahmed Makky (2009) and The Use of Life (2014). Journalistically he has published dozens of opinion articles and reports with various print and online publications and blogs. He worked as a journalist for the literary magazine Akhbar Al-Adab and contributed to numerous magazines and websites including Al-Masry al-Youm and Al-Modon.