Quick Facts
Biography
Mohamed Mansi Qandil (Arabic: محمد المنسي قنديل, born in 1946 in al-Mahalla al-Kubra) is an Egyptian novelist and author. His father was a simple labourer. Qandil went to medical school and worked as a country doctor before turning to writing as a full-time profession. He lived in Kuwait for several years, where he was an editor at the monthly magazine Al-Arabi. He now lives in Canada.
Qandil's first novel was called Breaking of the Spirit and dealt with the subject of workers' unrest in the delta region. Another novel Moon Over Samarqand was inspired by a conversation with a taxi driver he had met in Uzbekistan. This novel won the Sawiris Foundation Award in 2006. An English translation of Moon over Samarqand by Jennifer Peterson has been published by AUC Press. His 2010 novel A Cloudy Day on the West Side was shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize. An English translation by Barbara Romaine has been published by Syracuse University Press.
Apart from novels, Qandil has also published short story collections and children's books.
Qandil won the Egyptian State Incentive Award in 1988.
Selected works
- Breaking of the Spirit (novel)
- Moon over Samarqand (novel)
- A Cloudy Day on the West Side (novel)
- A Dinner with Aisha (short stories)