SHAHRAZAD’S GIFT

by

Gretchen McCullough

Contemporary Fiction / Linked Short Stories / Humor

Publisher: Cune Press

Date of Publication: February 20, 2024

Number of Pages: 198 pages

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Shahrazad’s Gift is a collection of linked short stories set in contemporary Cairo—magical, absurd and humorous. The author focuses on the off-beat, little-known stories, far from CNN news: a Swedish belly dancer who taps into the Oriental fantasies of her clientele; a Japanese woman studying Arabic, driven mad by the noise and chaos of the city; a frustrated Egyptian housewife who becomes obsessed by the activities of her Western gay neighbor; an American journalist who covered the civil war in Beirut who finds friendship with her Egyptian dentist. We also meet the two protagonists of McCullough’s Confessions of a Knight Errant, before their escapades in that story.

These stories are told in the tradition of A Thousand and One Nights.

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Inspiration for writing Shahrazad’s Gift – And more!

By Gretchen McCullough

The stories in Shahrazad’s Gift were written after about five years living in Cairo. I was inspired by the flamboyant, colorful characters in my building and in the city. I actually met a woman who made costumes for belly dancers—and she told me marvelous stories about her experiences!

Cairo is a congested city. My building was only separated by a tiny alley to another building. You could actually see into the apartments of your neighbors. One of our Egyptian neighbors became obsessed by the sexual activities of one of my American neighbors. That story became “Taken Hostage by the Ugly Duck.” I wrote the story from the point-of-view of the Egyptian woman who was entranced.

“On the Run: Part II” was inspired by my experiences in the 2011 uprising. We didn’t sleep for days. We heard about many foreigners who fled and abandoned their pets. In “Part II” Gary and Kharalombos end up taking care of pets, even a diabetic cat!

“Part II” of Shahrazad’s Gift became the first section of my novel, Confessions of a Knight Errant. I was having so much fun with the characters, I wondered what would happen to them if they went to Texas. They were on the run from the authorities and end up working in a posh girls’ camp in central Texas. Kharalombos is a Greek-Egyptian ballroom dancing teacher, who doesn’t adjust well to a strict schedule. He becomes homesick for Cairo. Gary, the American professor who is accused of being a cyber-terrorist completely fails as the handyman, especially when they face a plumbing disaster!

Gretchen McCullough was raised in Harlingen Texas. After graduating from Brown University in 1984, she taught in Egypt, Turkey, and Japan. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama and was awarded a teaching Fulbright to Syria from 1997-1999. Her stories, essays and reviews have appeared in The Barcelona Review, Archipelago, National Public Radio, Story South, Guernica, The Common, The Millions, and the LA Review of Books. Translations in English and Arabic have been published in: Nizwa, Banipal, Brooklyn Rail in Translation, World Literature Today and Washington Square Review with Mohamed Metwalli. Her bi-lingual book of short stories in English and Arabic, Three Stories From Cairo, translated with Mohamed Metwalli, was published in July 2011 by AFAQ Publishing House, Cairo. A collection of short stories about expatriate life in Cairo, Shahrazad’s Tooth, was also published by AFAQ in 2013. Currently, she is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Rhetoric and Composition at the American University in Cairo.

Website ◆ Goodreads

 American University Faculty Webpage

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THREE WINNERS:

Two winners receive paperbacks

One winner receives the eBook of Shahrazad’s Gift

(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 4/12/24)

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