Imprisoning a Revolution - by Collective Antigone (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book contains letters, poetry, and art produced by Egyptians imprisoned from the eruption of the January 25, 2011, uprising through the fall of 2023. Some are by journalists, lawyers, activists, and artists imprisoned for expressing their opposition to Egypt's authoritarian order; others are by ordinary citizens caught up in the zeal to silence any hint of challenge to state power, including bystanders whose only crime was to be near a police sweep. Together, the contributors to Imprisoning a Revolution raise profound questions about the nature of politics both in authoritarian regimes and in their "democratic" allies, who continue to enable and support such violence. This collection offers few answers and even less consolation, but it does offer voices from behind the prison walls that remind readers of our collective obligation not to look away or remain silent. With a foreword by acclaimed Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji and an afterword with Kenyan literary giant Ngugi wa Thiong'o, this book holds a mirror not just to Egypt but to the world today, urging us to stop the rampant abuse and denial of fundamental human rights around the globe"--

Book Synopsis

A groundbreaking collection of writings by political prisoners in Egypt, offering a unique lens on the global rise of authoritarianism during the last decade.

This book contains letters, poetry, and art produced by Egypt's incarcerated from the eruption of the January 25, 2011, uprising. Some are by journalists, lawyers, activists, and artists imprisoned for expressing their opposition to Egypt's authoritarian order; others are by ordinary citizens caught up in the zeal to silence any hint of challenge to state power, including bystanders whose only crime was to be near a police sweep.

Together, the contributors raise profound questions about the nature of politics in both authoritarian regimes and their "democratic" allies, who continue to enable and support such violence. This collection offers few answers and even less consolation, but it does offer voices from behind the prison walls that remind readers of our collective obligation not to look away or remain silent. With a foreword by acclaimed Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji and an afterword with Kenyan literary giant Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Imprisoning a Revolution holds a mirror not just to Egypt but to the world today, urging us to stop the rampant abuse and denial of fundamental human rights around the globe.

From the Back Cover

"A remarkable volume and a true act of solidarity. A testament to both our fragility and our resilience. It will break your heart--and inspire you."--Ahdaf Soueif, author of The Map of Love

"The defeat of the Egyptian revolution is one of the great calamities of the contemporary Middle East. Imprisoning a Revolution brings us the urgent, eloquent voices of men and women who refuse to be broken, or silenced, by their despotic and pitiless regime, which rules Egypt with the complicity of Arab leaders and the Western powers. All but abandoned by the world, Egypt's political prisoners have transformed their confinement into a laboratory of a democratic future, reminding us that--in the words of Milan Kundera--'the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.'"--Adam Shatz, author of The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon

"Ahmed Naji writes in his foreword that for political prisoners, 'writing is the highest form of resistance.' This epic collection of prisoner texts testifies to his observation that their 'will has not been broken' and that they remain 'capable of thinking, creating, and innovating.'"--A. Dirk Moses, author of The Problems of Genocide

"While a candle burns, darkness doesn't win. As long as a prisoner with a pen has the courage to put words to paper, darkness won't win. These remarkable, eloquent, and heart-wrenching testimonies from some of those unjustly incarcerated in Egypt remind us that human rights courage burns even today and gives all of us hope for a brighter future."--Paul O'Brien, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA

Review Quotes

"It is particularly valuable in exposing the continuities between colonial practices of imprisonment and contemporary modes of incarceration. Few collections of prison literature so effectively document a specific moment in time, and thereby clarify why Egypt's prison system has expanded so dramatically in recent decades."

-- "Markaz Reviews"

"These writings, visceral and immediate, testify to the enduring human need to bear witness and speak truth to power."-- "World Literature Today"

About the Author

Collective Antigone is a group of scholars and human rights defenders created to support prisoners of conscience and their families in Egypt.