Those Who Shaped the Future

Author Hisham Geshta, literary and art critic and editor of Al Kitaba Al Ukhra (Other Writing), Cairo, Egypt, reminisces about his meeting and long-term relationship with writer and activist Anwar Kamel and their united efforts to publish established and emerging surrealist writers and poets in Al Tatawwur (Evolution) magazine in 1940 and after. Later, when Kamel is in his late seventies, in 1991, the author establishes and publishes Al Kitaba Al-Ukhra to continue the commitment. The author provides numerous excerpts from these and earlier publications that include the writings of Georges Henein, Ramses Younan, Kamel Telmisany, and era poets, illuminating the ideology and creative output of Egyptian surrealist artists and thought leaders across more than five decades.