Alaa Mosbah on Road 90 (AUC Publication)

Read it here:
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/road90/IndexF09-4.html
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/road90/InsideStories/2-Road90-fall09/3weeklypalmarian.html

Introducing: Alaa Mosbah

Hometown: Mansoura, Egypt

Major: Mass Communications

Double Minor: Film, Political Science

Activities: Help Club, columnist for both The Caravan & Dimensions, Arab Literature Club, Scouting Club, Independent journalist/author

As the domino effect states, one event passes directly into another through succession. So when you begin writing fiction at the age of 10, win two first-prize Reading for All Festival awards presented by Suzanne Mubarak, then begin working for both Ain and Adostour Newspapers, it is no wonder your first published book sells over 1,000 copies.

As graduation nears there are no definite plans when it comes to choosing between becoming a novelist, a journalist, or going to graduate school; for Alaa Elmohsen, so long as he is able to continue writing in any arena, he is happy.

“Sometimes you feel like you want to write a lot, sometimes you don't want to...it's not always an easy task,” yet despite the reality of a writer’s hardship, Alaa was still able to produce 340 pages for his first published book, This is America: Diaries of an Egyptian Student In the US. Inspired by a semester abroad at The State University of New York as part of his LEAD Scholarship, the personal stories explore a global perspective of cultural differences and implications.

Interestingly, had it not been for the LEAD Program, Alaa was on his way to becoming a doctor- something he “had no real interest in doing” in life. One year at AUC studying a new and difficult subject- Computer Science- confirmed for him something he already knew: “Writing has always been my joy in life and [so] I decided that I wanted to continue to pursue it to achieve true happiness.”

When he’s not writing, he’s reading, and when he’s not reading, he’s traveling. Working on his latest novel, Alaa hopes to encapsulate the experience of all three joys during an adventure he took completely by land from Beirut to Cairo with a pack of Swiss natives. The trip came about after attending a Lebanon International United Model Nations conference in Beirut.

“I like to discuss controversial issues between the east and the west then try to clear up the misunderstandings,” he explains. Alaa hopes to continue the trend he has set by having introductions written by notable authors like Ahmed Khalid Tawfik, complete with compliments by greats like Alaa Al Aswany (author of Chicago: A Novel).

As if being graced with their presence is not enough, Alaa “find[s] inspiration from reading successful peoples’ biographies.” He may be reading his own very soon, although he would probably rather write it.