Graphic Fiction by Migo Rolzz

Translated from the Arabic by Chip Rossetti

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First published in English in Words Without Borders' February 2013 issue: International Graphic Novels: Volume VII.

for The Last of the Bunch
https://wwb-campus.org/literature/the-last-of-the-bunch

Migo Rolzz

The comic artist and illustrator Migo Rolzz was born in 1988 in Egypt. He studied architecture and graphic design, and worked in design, post-production, and advertising. He lives in Southern California. His work has been published in TokTok magazine in Cairo, Egypt.

Chip Rossetti (translator)

Chip Rossetti is a doctoral student in Arabic literature at the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked as an acquiring editor at a number of publishers, including Little, Brown, Basic, and the American University in Cairo Press, and is now the managing editor for the Library of Arabic Literature translation series at NYU Press. He has written for Saudi Aramco World, Fodor’s, and National Geographic’s travel guides to Morocco and Egypt. He has translated the novels Saint Theresa and Sleeping with Strangers by Bahaa Abdelmeguid (AUC Press) and Utopia by Ahmed Khaled Towfik (Bloomsbury Qatar), and won a PEN Translation Prize for his translation of a collection of short stories by the Egyptian writer Mohamad Makhzangi.

Links available online only

Hear the Terms

Listen to pronunciations of the Egyptian Arabic terms in this story, read aloud by Noor Naga.

(Listen on SoundCloud.)

Translating "The Last of the Bunch"

Take a look inside the translation process for "The Last of the Bunch" by reading the first few pages of a draft from translator Chip Rossetti.

See the Scenery

Browse through photos from a blog post on the train from Cairo to Alexandria. You'll see the Misr Railway Station in Alexandria, which also appears in the story. Then, look at a photo of the sea view in Alexandria.

Egyptian Proverbs

Read a list of Egyptian proverbs, including one on friendship that says “Go away for a while and you’ll be loved more.”

Background on Egypt

Mural, Egypt 2013, photographed by stttijn. License: CC by 2.0.

To learn more about Egypt's history, read the BBC's timeline of key events from 7000 BCE to 2018.

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More from Migo Rollz

Watch the trailer for The Yacoubian Building, one of Migo Rollz's favorite films.

(Watch the video on YouTube.)

More from Translator Chip Rossetti

Learn about modern Egypt by reading Chip Rossetti's introduction to contemporary Egyptian literature on WWB Campus, and then read more of his work.

More Egyptian Comix

Interested in other comix from Egypt? If you know Arabic (or are interested in learning) try the Comix and Graphic Novels series on Khallina.org. It begins with the video below, which shows the magazine TokTok being created.

(Watch on YouTube.)

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