Creativity, dissidence and autobiography are Egyptian authors' topics

The Cornell University Lectures Series will present a symposium, "Creativity, Dissidence and Autobiography: Two Egyptian Voices," with Nawal el Saadawi and Sherif Hetata speaking Monday, Nov. 29, at 3 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall.

The presentation by the Cairo-based couple is open to the public, free of charge. El Saadawi, a novelist and psychiatrist, will speak on "Dissidence and Creativity." Her husband, a novelist and medical doctor, will speak on "Autobiography: How Did My Experience Write Itself?" An open discussion will follow their presentations.

"Dr. El Saadawi's lecture will address various issues concerning the creative process, in the context of literature and Egypt, while Dr. Hetata will focus on the author's life experiences and they role they have played in his writing," said their host at Cornell, Roald Hoffmann, the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters. "These distinguished authors have had difficult life experiences -- including imprisonment -- that few of us can imagine, and we are fortunate for the opportunity to hear first-hand how their lives have informed their writing."

A leading figure in the Egyptian left-wing movement, Hetata spent 13 years in prison and nearly two years in exile after escaping from prison. Following graduation from medical school in 1946, he worked in Asia and Africa for the International Labour Organization, becoming an expert on population and migration. He has written on many subjects, including travel, politics and health, but since 1968 has devoted himself almost exclusively to novels. Two novels were translated into English, The Eye with an Iron Lid (1974) and The Net (1981), while his memoirs, titled Open Windows, were published in three volumes (1993, 1995 and 1997).

El Saadawi has written a number of highly acclaimed novels and memoirs, often dealing with the role of women in Egyptian society. In 1972 she lost her job with the Egyptian government, the magazine she had founded and edited for more than three years was shut down and she was imprisoned. She was released shortly, but for years her name figured on death lists issued by fanatical terrorist organizations. The Egyptian government also abolished the organization over which she presided, the Arab Women's Solidarity Association, and shut down its magazine, Noon, of which El Saadawi was the editor-in-chief. The Arab Women's Solidarity Association resumed functioning, and El Saadawi went on to found or co-found the Arab Association for Human Rights and the African Association for Women on Research Development. Among the 16 works of hers available in English translation are Nawal El Saadawi Reader (1997), a collection of nonfiction essays, and The Innocence of the Devil (1995), a novel.