Breaking the culture of silence: in his bestseller "The Yacoubian Building", Al Aswany was already castigating the ills of Egyptian society: In it, he describes the microcosm of a Cairo apartment building, for whose inhabitants violence, corruption, bigoted sexual morality and Egypt's brutal classist society are a part of everyday lifes
Ten years ago, Egyptians dreamt of change, they took to the streets against President Mubarak. But their hopes were dashed. A look back and forward with writer Alaa Al Aswany
