Description
Regarding the story behind her award-winning book—and why she chose Shanghai over other Chinese cities—Mansoura explains: “In 2018, I received an invitation from the Shanghai Writers’ Association and the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo to spend two months in the city as part of an annual literary residency program, which hosts writers from all over the world. As someone with a keen interest in ancient Chinese culture, I accepted. That period proved highly productive for my writing; I completed my novel *The Orchards of Basra* there, while also documenting my observations of the city, the details of my stay, and my interactions with other writers—all with the thought that these notes might one day become a book.”
“Even though contemporary readers are saturated with images and virtual tours, there remains a need to read about the human experiences of those who have visited distant places—to learn how they have shaped and interpreted those experiences.”
“I fell in love with the city the moment I arrived. It was generous and deeply inspiring, which compelled me to explore the hidden depths of its history—not directly, but through the subtle ways in which that history, with all its twists and turns, continues to resonate within the city’s contemporary reality.”
Mansoura adds: “I have traveled to many cities across various continents—including some in highly developed nations—yet Shanghai struck me as a colossal, futuristic metropolis that conceals numerous, layered histories beneath its surface. This ignited my imagination, making me feel as though I were faced with a puzzle that I had to decipher.” The section on Shanghai in this book was an initial attempt to unravel this enigma; however, I feel that I shall return to write about it again—this time, in a more creative vein.
She continues: “I set aside what I had written about Shanghai for a while. Then, in 2019, I received an invitation from the Mo Yan International Writing Center to participate in two seminars—one in Beijing, moderated by the prominent poets Ouyang Jianghe and Xi Chuan, and another in the southern city of Zhuhai. I traveled there in November 2019 for several days, and the journey offered me a glimpse into other facets of China—its cultural, geographical, and climatic diversity. This inspired me to expand the scope of my book beyond Shanghai alone, incorporating details from this second trip. Nevertheless, Shanghai remains the book’s focal point. As I noted in the introduction: ‘This book is not merely about Shanghai—or the “Pearl of the Orient,” as its residents like to call it—nor is it solely about Beijing, Zhuhai, or China as a whole. Rather, it is fundamentally about my relationship with the concept of distance; about places in general; and about the many cities I have either visited or imagined. Shanghai lies at the heart of them all—acting as a magic mirror that reflects the images of every other place, just as its own image is reflected across those various cities and spaces.'”
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