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  1. Trailblazing Egypt author dies aged 87

    Mike Thomson

    BBC World Service News

    The prize-winning Egyptian novelist and short-story writer, Bahaa Taher, has died aged 87.

    Born in Cairo in 1935, he wrote a number of critically acclaimed books - some turned into TV dramas.

    In the mid-1970s the author became active in left-wing literary circles and was banned from publishing under President Anwar Sadat’s government.

    In 2008 Taher won the first-ever International Prize for Arabic Fiction, for his novel The Oasis of Sunset.

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