Maria Golia

Writer.

Author of Cairo, City of Sand (Reaktion Books, 2004), and Photography and Egypt (Reaktion Books, 2010). Maria Golia has written extensively about Egypt from cultural, social, political and economic perspectives, describing the transformations observed during her twenty-three years of residency, and the continuities that likewise define the country’s character and history.

Born on a June Sunday in the USA prior to the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Marylyn Monroe's suicide, and the first lunar landing. Situate this writer anywhere but the United States following precocious exposure to late-'60’s American counterculture.

Nomadic and inquisitive in four languages. Former student of neurophysiology, performing-arts center manager, and tutor of Islamic art and architecture to Kuwaiti royalty. Intermittent actor. Fellow of the London Institute of Ecotechnics and outraged environmentalist.

Lifetime interest in the quandaries of a discontinuous reality, the experience of the vivid moment, and the exploration of space and other unknowns. Long-time resident of Egypt, Maria Golia is also opinion columnist for the Beirut Daily Star, reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement (London) and speechwriter for Egyptian politicians and tycoons.

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