I have a couple of things to note about my new Egyptian pals today.

Firstly there was a fabulous interview with Ahmed Mourad in The Guardian over the weekend. It details part of his life story that he touched on during the panel in Bristol, but which I wasn’t confident writing about if I couldn’t check facts with him. I found him to be a lovely young man, and when you have read the interview I’m sure you’ll agree that he is a brave one too. I’m looking forward to reading Vertigo.

I have, however, read Utopia, the science fiction novella by Ahmed Khaled Towfik. My interview with him is still in progress — I need to check on the spelling of some Egyptian names — but you can now read my review of the book.