Poetry is not only a set of words which are chosen to relate to each other; it is something which goes much further than that to provide a glimpse of our vision of the world.

It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn.

To lead a country, you must periodically hold a national consultation in which people representing different programmes can make a bid for power.

What have we achieved since the end of the Second World War? We have allowed petty, bourgeois regimes in which everything is average, mediocre.

We do not have many intellectuals who can speak out for us internationally. We have no writers who are recognized, respected and loved outside the Arab world.

Egypt has suffered more ordeals than the other countries to get where it is.

My sensibility steers me toward writers who are out on their own.