1 – Yehia Haqqi was one of the pioneers of modern Egyptian literature.
2 – He was an expert on Arab Culture.
3 – Sayyida Zeinab is a district of Cairo.
4 – He graduated in law and worked as a lawyer for a short time.
5 – As a diplomat, he worked abroad for more than 20 years.
6 – The time he spent abroad gave him experiences.
7 – His first story was published in 1925.
8 – His first story established him as one of the great short story writers.
9 – He wanted to help the poor and disabled people.
10 – He wrote a collection of short stories.
11 – One of his short stories won an important prize.
12 – His novel, the Post Man, was made into a film.
13 – He gave his bed to a poor man who needed it more.
14 – He wrote in a new way/ style about Arab society and customs.
15 – He was interested in the Arabic Language.
16 – He developed a new style of writing which is respected today.
17 – As well as writing, he translated into Arabic.
18 – He was a strong believer in the power of books.
19 - He supported many young Egyptian writers.
20 – He is still thought as the father of modern short story in Egypt.
21 – I wrote a poem which won second prize in a national competition.
22 - I wrote short stories for a magazine.
23 – Did you get confused?
24 - I used to write very quickly.
25 –The novels take much longer.
26 – Do you have a fixed routine?
27 – I have a ten-minute break for coffee at midday.
28 – I am old- fashioned.
29 – It gave me a headache.
30 – My secretary types it onto the computer.
31 – My publisher insists that I send everything as an e-mail attachment.
32 – I spend 2 or 3 days checking the week’s work.
33 – I had changed my last novel six times before I was happy with it.
34 – They didn’t like how my story ended.
35 – Thank you for talking to me.
