Abdelrahman ElGendy
@elgendy95.bsky.social
Preorder HUNA: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming; forthcoming from Hogarth, Penguin Random House on Sep 1, 2026. https://www.abdelrahmanelgendy.com/huna
"[This book] would speak to anyone who's ever experienced erasure in its myriad forms, whether bodily, linguistically, geographically, or historically." 2026 Director's Grantee @elgendy95.bsky.social's memoir HUNA comes out on Sept. 1, 2026! Learn more: degrootfoundation.org/abdelrahman-...
Meet 2026 Director's Grantee Abdelrahman ElGendy! 🎉 @elgendy95.bsky.social Abdelrahman was awarded a grant for his memoir HUNA: A MEMOIR OF REVOLUTION, PRISON, AND BECOMING, forthcoming from Hogarth on September 1, 2026. Learn more & pre-order your copy: degrootfoundation.org/abdelrahman-...
After three years of freedom, the Egyptian poet and activist Ahmed Douma is once again imprisoned. @elgendy95.bsky.social translates a poem he wrote while incarcerated back in 2023.
the thing between the wall and my body | Ahmed Douma
Written from Badr Prison in 2023, “the thing between the wall and my body” traces the physics of incarceration.
thebaffler.com
A leader of several protest movements and a prominent activist in Tahrir Square, Ahemd Douma spent a decade behind bars as a political prisoner. Yet as @elgendy95.bsky.social observes, his work refuses to engage with the politics of futility.
the thing between the wall and my body | Ahmed Douma
Written from Badr Prison in 2023, “the thing between the wall and my body” traces the physics of incarceration.
thebaffler.com
We're thinking of our contributor Ahmed Douma right now. Along with this poem from @thebaffler.com, we want to share his poem "Zaytouna" (tr. @elgendy95.bsky.social). "We’ll return/to Zaytouna, to shade/our suture." wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
Zaytouna - Words Without Borders
Ahmed Douma considers an olive tree’s resilience in this powerful and poignant poem, written during his decade-long incarceration.
wordswithoutborders.org
The Baffler@thebaffler.com · 3mo agoThe Egyptian poet and activist Ahmed Douma is once again incarcerated—and facing another five years behind bars. Today, we share a poem he wrote while in Badr Prison in 2023 (translated by @elgendy95.bsky.social).
dear friend and egyptian poet Ahmed Douma will be sentenced in two weeks, on june 3, for a political commentary. this is douma’s second imprisonment; the first lasted ten years. i translated his haunting poem, “the thing between the wall and my body”. please read him.
The Baffler@thebaffler.com · 3mo agoThe Egyptian poet and activist Ahmed Douma is once again incarcerated—and facing another five years behind bars. Today, we share a poem he wrote while in Badr Prison in 2023 (translated by @elgendy95.bsky.social).
I'm sharing a series of slides from @elgendy95.bsky.social's instagram account about how mutual aid works in Gaza. There are 5 slides (I will thread them) & you can see the original post here: www.instagram.com/p/DMaj16Ostyh/
@ahmeddouma.bsky.social ’s “Zaytouna,” written during the author’s incarceration, is an ode to an olive tree planted by a friend in Palestine, and to the hope it symbolizes. Read the poem (tr. @elgendy95.bsky.social : wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
For the @washingtonpost.com, I wrote about Laila Soueif—not only the grieving mother starving for her son’s release, but the towering icon of dissent with a legacy all her own. No matter how this ends, Laila lives. wapo.st/3HT3xin
Opinion | A hunger strike two continents apart, linking mother and son
No matter how this ends, Laila Soueif lives.
wapo.st
Washington Post Opinions@postopinions.bsky.social · last yr."To those who’ve only heard of Laila Soueif now, she may seem merely a grieving mother desperate to save her imprisoned son," @elgendy95.bsky.social writes. "But Laila bears a history of her own." wapo.st/40cp1wH
"Why I Had to Flee the United States I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America. Abdelrahman ElGendy The hallmark of authoritarianism isn’t the knock at the door—it’s life under the constant fear of its arrival."
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
“After Mahmoud Khalil was abducted by ICE agents in front of his university apartment in NYC, I locked myself inside my home for a month… my lawyers gently but unequivocally told me that the question had likely become no longer if I would be arrested but when.” So, Abdelrahman ElGendy fled the US.
“The hallmark of authoritarianism isn’t the knock at the door—it’s life under the constant fear of its arrival.” Critical & devastating read by Abdelrahman ElGendy www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
“The hallmark of authoritarianism isn’t the knock at the door—it’s life under the constant fear of its arrival.” Abdel Rahman Elgendy, who was a political prisoner in Egypt for six years, has now fled the US. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
Two days ago, I officially earned my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. But, for the second degree in a row, a dictatorship robbed me of a graduation day. 🧵
“Let us grieve the costs we pay for being non-ideal imperial subjects, but may our grief not distract us from the real story. May it propel us into fury.”
Abdelrahman ElGendy@elgendy95.bsky.social · last yr.Two days ago, I officially earned my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. But, for the second degree in a row, a dictatorship robbed me of a graduation day. 🧵
This is what I keep thinking about as I digest my alma mater @swarthmorecollege.bsky.social’s response to protest. The fury and fear aimed at protesters, not a state that has erased entire futures. The willingness to play into the hands of an administration that gleefully scapegoats Arabs & Muslims.
Abdelrahman ElGendy@elgendy95.bsky.social · last yr.Still, let me end with clarity: I had a university to go to; Gazan universities have all been obliterated by U.S.-funded Israeli scholasticide. I had a family that couldn’t join me; entire Palestinian bloodlines have been erased from the public record.
Two days ago, I officially earned my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. But, for the second degree in a row, a dictatorship robbed me of a graduation day. 🧵
Today in @thenation.com: After 3 yrs of carving a home in U.S. exile, I fled again fearing an ICE arrest. The risk wasn’t just deportation, but life in prison back in Egypt. What myths does the US empire uphold about itself? When does fascism stop "descending"? www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
“Our persecuted fled to the US from prisons, wars, and bloodshed, the belly of the beast a refuge from its claws tearing at our homelands. But today, we relive the very realities we fled.” @elgendy95.bsky.social on political imprisonment, from Egypt to America. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
Frederick Deknatel@freddydeknatel.bsky.social · last yr.“The hallmark of authoritarianism isn’t the knock at the door—it’s life under the constant fear of its arrival… It wasn’t just a departure I was weighing; it was the abandonment of a life I had painstakingly built against the conditions of my exile.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
“The hallmark of authoritarianism isn’t the knock at the door—it’s life under the constant fear of its arrival… It wasn’t just a departure I was weighing; it was the abandonment of a life I had painstakingly built against the conditions of my exile.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
“Our persecuted fled to the US from prisons, wars, and bloodshed, the belly of the beast a refuge from its claws tearing at our homelands. But today, we relive the very realities we fled” I am enraged and heartbroken and I am sure Abdelrahman’s story is only one of many.
Abdelrahman ElGendy@elgendy95.bsky.social · last yr.Today in @thenation.com: After 3 yrs of carving a home in U.S. exile, I fled again fearing an ICE arrest. The risk wasn’t just deportation, but life in prison back in Egypt. What myths does the US empire uphold about itself? When does fascism stop "descending"? www.thenation.com/article/soci...
An important, eloquent and deeply upsetting piece by @elgendy95.bsky.social who I was lucky to teach while he worked on his upcoming book. After years as a political prisoner in Egypt, he faced the same risk in the US and had to flee. Such an enraging loss.
The Nation Magazine@thenation.com · last yr."After Mahmoud Khalil was abducted, I locked myself inside my home for a month." Why @elgendy95.bsky.social, a former political prisoner in Egypt, decided he had no choice but to flee Donald Trump's America.
"The hallmark of authoritarianism isn’t the knock at the door—it’s life under the constant fear of its arrival."
Abdelrahman ElGendy@elgendy95.bsky.social · last yr.Today in @thenation.com: After 3 yrs of carving a home in U.S. exile, I fled again fearing an ICE arrest. The risk wasn’t just deportation, but life in prison back in Egypt. What myths does the US empire uphold about itself? When does fascism stop "descending"? www.thenation.com/article/soci...
"The hallmark of authoritarianism isn’t the knock at the door—it’s life under the constant fear of its arrival." My heart breaks for my writer friend @elgendy95.bsky.social, who recently fled the U.S. He had made a home here after being a political prisoner in Egypt. Please read his story.
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
"The hallmark of authoritarianism isn't the knock at the door--it's life under the constant fear of its arrival."
Abdelrahman ElGendy@elgendy95.bsky.social · last yr.Today in @thenation.com: After 3 yrs of carving a home in U.S. exile, I fled again fearing an ICE arrest. The risk wasn’t just deportation, but life in prison back in Egypt. What myths does the US empire uphold about itself? When does fascism stop "descending"? www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Former Egyptian political prisoner @elgendy95.bsky.social came to the US to seek stability and security. I am heartbroken that a talented, empathetic, and brilliant author like him could not find that. The greatest indictment of a country is its inability to protect the most vulnerable.
The Nation Magazine@thenation.com · last yr."After Mahmoud Khalil was abducted, I locked myself inside my home for a month." Why @elgendy95.bsky.social, a former political prisoner in Egypt, decided he had no choice but to flee Donald Trump's America.
"After Mahmoud Khalil was abducted, I locked myself inside my home for a month." Why @elgendy95.bsky.social, a former political prisoner in Egypt, decided he had no choice but to flee Donald Trump's America.
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
Today in @thenation.com: @elgendy95.bsky.social, who was a political prisoner in Egypt, writes about why he recently decided to flee the US rather than risk the same fate again. The story he tells is heartbreaking and infuriating and really important. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Why I Had to Flee the United States
I was a political prisoner in Egypt. I didn’t want to become one again in America.
thenation.com
