Shaban Yusuf
Shaban Yusuf (born 7 April 1955) is an Egyptian writer, poet, critic and researcher. He founded the Olive Literary Workshop in 1979 and, with Rifat Salam and Mahmoud Naseem, Kitabat magazine. He has published seven poetry collections, a play, and several critical books and research papers. He was the editor-in-chief of Kitabat Jadidah and the supervisor of Manarat al-Nadim. He has written for newspapers such as El Tahrir and Akhbar Al-Adab.
Yusuf works to bring marginalized poets and women writers to light. He has also helped create and present television programs like Assir Al-Kotob, Soor Elazbakeya, and Al-Maqha Al-Thaqafi, and he produced Al-Maqha Al-Thaqafi. He is the editor-in-chief of Alam Al-Kotob magazine and is preparing a book called Mustafa Mahmoud's Broken Secularism.
He earned a bachelor's degree in commerce. He discovered his love for writing in childhood, inspired by reading; his first favorite book was Robin Hood. His science teacher, Hosni Al-Abbasi, encouraged his reading. In secondary school, a friend introduced him to poetry, and Hafiz Ibrahim influenced him deeply.
In the 1970s, he joined the student movement. In 1979, he founded Olive Literary Workshop and Kitabat magazine. In 1980, he worked in a library near Soor Elazbakeya and later spoke about his library experiences on Al Araby’s Soor Elazbakeya program.
In 2020, he was one of 100 poets and critics from 15 Arab countries at the Cairo International Forum on Arab Poetry. He also took part in the Culture in Your Hands initiative and read a section from Why do women writers die in vain? The video was shared by the Supreme Council of Culture.
Among his books, he has republished writings about Shuhdi Atiya ash-Shafi, Sayyid Qutb, Nabawiyya Musa and Ismail Adham. He has attended many conferences worldwide, including the Muscat International Book Fair.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:25 (CET).