Aisha Abdel-Karim is an Egyptian researcher, writer and translator. After taking time to focus on motherhood, she returned to her passion for research and writing, earning a master’s degree in women’s studies. Her interest in Zaki Tolimat was sparked by his writings on Taheyya Carioca, the Egyptian belly dancer, actress and activist, which led her to explore Egypt’s early 20th century cultural landscape and to ask new questions about Egyptian modernity.
In her previous book, 44 Aswan (2024), Aisha examined the vocabulary of modern transformation in a remote town of the former Egyptian Kingdom. Her forthcoming biography, Taheyya Carioca, explores the making of the hybrid modernist artist. She is currently compiling the works of Zaki Tolimat, a pioneer of modern Arab theater, hoping that her work can serve as material to prompt further research into Egyptian modernity.