Stones of Bobello- Edwar al-Kharrat and Paul Starkey

Set during the 1930s in the small town of Tarrana in the Nile Delta region of Egypt, Stones of Bobello revolves around the life of a sensitive young Christian boy.

Its montage of nostalgic, psychological and mythical perspectives highlights various tensions – between man and woman, Copt and Muslim, dream and reality.

The torpid climate of the Delta is the setting for this bewitching coming-of-age tale, charged with erotic fantasy and richly imbued with those imaginative oases where dreams and memories flourish.

Edwar Al-Kharrat is a novelist, poet, critic, translator and editor. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1926. Among his awards are the prestigious Oweiss Prize (the Arab world's largest prize for writers and intellectuals) and the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature. He was awarded the State Merit Award for Literature in 2000.