Mohamed Mansi Qandil

Mohamed Mansi Qandil is an Egyptian novelist, born in 1949 in the Egyptian delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra. He graduated from medical school in Mansoura in 1975, but gave up medicine, devoting himself instead to writing, and going on to win the State Incentive Prize in 1988. His works are marked by a fascination with history. His novels include Moon over Samarkand (2004) winner of the 2006 Sawiris Award, which was translated into English, and A Cloudy Day on the West Side (2009), shortlisted for the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Among his other novels are Breaking of the Spirit (1992) and I Loved (2012).