Cairo is gigantic, but still it brims over with humanity. Its population is at least 20 million and still growing. Satellite cities arise in the desert, the suburbs surround the Pyramids, informal settlements colonise Fatimid mausoleums.

A fine shortlist of nominees for the third ‘Arabic Booker’ has so far been overshadowed by manufactured controversy, Youssef Rakha writes.
* By Youssef Rakha, published in The National

Norwegian publishing house Minuskel recently acquired the rights to Khaled Khalifa’s In praise of hatred.