Huna.jpg
Huna.jpg

Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming by Abdelrahman ElGendy

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Hardcover:

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

A gripping, deeply moving memoir of survival, education, and resistance by a student protestor–turned–political prisoner in post-revolution Egypt.

“I will never be the same after reading Huna.”—Javier Zamora
“A beautifully written portrait of a radical political awakening.”—Hanif Abdurraqib
“The work of a truly liberated writer.”—Fady Joudah

One of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Year • A Kirkus Reviews Most Anticipated Book

In 2013, seventeen-year-old Abdelrahman ElGendy joined the street protests convulsing post-revolution Cairo. Within minutes of arriving at a demonstration with his father, both were swept up in a police crackdown that would keep them apart from ordinary life for years.

Huna follows ElGendy through the Egyptian prison system, where he earned an engineering degree, built friendships that became a kind of family, and used writing to hold on to a sense of self the state was trying to erase.

At its center is his relationship with his father, imprisoned alongside him — a bond tested and, in unexpected ways, deepened by years spent inside the same walls.

This is a memoir about what it costs to remain yourself under a system built to erase you, and what, against the odds, endures.

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

A gripping, deeply moving memoir of survival, education, and resistance by a student protestor–turned–political prisoner in post-revolution Egypt.

“I will never be the same after reading Huna.”—Javier Zamora
“A beautifully written portrait of a radical political awakening.”—Hanif Abdurraqib
“The work of a truly liberated writer.”—Fady Joudah

One of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Year • A Kirkus Reviews Most Anticipated Book

In 2013, seventeen-year-old Abdelrahman ElGendy joined the street protests convulsing post-revolution Cairo. Within minutes of arriving at a demonstration with his father, both were swept up in a police crackdown that would keep them apart from ordinary life for years.

Huna follows ElGendy through the Egyptian prison system, where he earned an engineering degree, built friendships that became a kind of family, and used writing to hold on to a sense of self the state was trying to erase.

At its center is his relationship with his father, imprisoned alongside him — a bond tested and, in unexpected ways, deepened by years spent inside the same walls.

This is a memoir about what it costs to remain yourself under a system built to erase you, and what, against the odds, endures.

  • Publisher: Hogarth (Penguin Random House)

    Title: Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming

    Author: Abdelrahman ElGendy

    On Sale Date: September 1, 2026

    ISBN 13: 9798217153602

    Format: Hardcover

    Retail Price: $30.00

    Page Count: 368

  • Abdelrahman ElGendy is a writer and translator from Cairo and the winner of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. He holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh, and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and Guernica. Huna is his debut memoir.

  • Critics are calling it fearless, elegant, gripping:

    • “Fearless and elegant—an uncompromising work from a new author with a mighty voice.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

    • “I will never be the same after reading Huna.” —Javier Zamora

    • “A beautifully written portrait of a radical political awakening.” —Hanif Abdurraqib

    • “The work of a truly liberated writer.” —Fady Joudah

This book is for you if

  • You want a firsthand account of political imprisonment told with genuine literary craft.

  • You’re interested in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and its effect on ordinary young people.

  • You’re drawn to father-son stories tested by extraordinary circumstances.

  • You appreciate memoirs about how people build meaning and community inside institutions designed to strip both away.

  • You’re looking for a debut voice already earning comparisons to the strongest literary memoirs of the year.

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