Page 4 - Issue 26

Vol.1 Issue 26, December 2020 ELITE

found to be kind, simple and always keen on following up with then-editor in chief Tarek Al-Taher titled “Sameh Fawzy A
Novelist, ” in which he compared between the formation and
his students and sharing with them his valuable insights. After all,
language styles of the novelist and the researcher.
it is normal to be influenced by your supervisor. Thus, I also
I got to experience working in several areas within the Library
recall Professor Robert Lockham, the supervisor of my second
such as dialogue, media, publishing and cultural events, which
master ’s thesis at Sussex University in Britain, who was an
added to my skills and allowed me to express my point of view.
influential yet humble figure with academic expertise in his field.
Coming to the Library from a research and journalistic
background as well as civil society experience in project
• You have occupied several positions at Bibliotheca
management and training allowed me to inject a vitality and
Alexandrina including senior administrative positions as well new suggestions into the Library.
as research duties. How have you contributed to and
• But Dr. Sameh Fawzy has also gone beyond his work at
benefitted from the Library?
the Library to issues of citizenship and development in the
public sphere, hasn ’t he?
The Library of Alexandria is an important cultural edifice,
currently under the direction of Dr. Mostafa El-Feky, one of the
That ’s correct because as I mentioned earlier, a researcher must
brightest graduates of FEPS with cultural and political influence.
have multiple experiences and public sphere activity. And I had
Since the Library is a major cultural institution with interests in
discovered early on that I wasn ’t made for a regular, mundane
books, publishing, science, arts, and academic research, it seeks
desk job. I recall being offered a high-salary position in a major
talents who are always expanding their general knowledge as
institution more than 15 years ago. I only asked one question:
opposed to narrowly confining themselves to their academic
will you let me continue writing my articles in newspapers? My
specialization.
interlocuter was silent for a few moments as he wasn ’t
This trend is further strengthened by the fact that similar
expecting such a question. Before he could respond, I told him
international institutions no longer restrict their activities to books
that it was difficult for me to work as an employee; I ’m always
and researchers; but rather, they now offer various cultural and
thinking with an active-person mentality, which doesn ’t suit the
artistic services.
monotonous tone of the job and even arouses jealousy from
My work at the Library has supported this shift towards general
colleagues who see life in still, bureaucratic, 8 to 2 PM terms.
knowledge and the process of learning about local and
Indeed, I have given much attention to issues of citizenship,
international experiences in this regard. And I have personally
participation and development, which I regard as
benefitted greatly from this shift by looking into other fields of
interdependent. Because development leads to citizenship and
knowledge, to the extent that I experimented with creative writing
citizen empowerment, which are two elements that in turn need
by publishing my two novels that received interest from critics:
serious participation in order to bear fruit. And I chose to do
“This Happened in Brighton ” and “Sincerely, Satan ” (titles
my three theses (two master ’s and a PhD) on these issues,
translated from Arabic). Moreover, the important literary
broadly defined. I studied accountability in one of my master ’s
magazine Akhbar Al-Adab published an article written by its
theses and good governance and development in the other. For
3
my PhD, I worked on the concept of social capital. All these