Guardian First Book award shortlistee Shereen El Feki (45, British Egyptian) introduces an extract from her book and explains what inspired her to write it
Shereen El Feki Photograph: Kristof Arasim
• Read the extract here
I have spent the last five years travelling across the Arab region, talking to people about sex: what they do, what they don't, what they think and why. Depending on your perspective, this might sound like a dream job or a highly dubious occupation. For me, it is something else altogether. Sex is the lens through which I study society, because what happens in intimate life is shaped by forces on a bigger stage – politics and economics, religion and tradition, gender and generations – and vice versa.
As I've found, if you really want to know a people, start by looking inside their bedrooms. And if you really want to know yourself, start by writing a book.
I'm Egyptian and Muslim, but I grew up in the west, far from my Arab roots. I began Sex and the Citadel to help outsiders – like myself – to better comprehend this pivotal part of the world, up-close and personal. But in the end, my book is as much for those inside the region, for the hundreds of men and women who so generously shared their experiences and expertise, and for the many more I have yet to meet.
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I have spent the last five years travelling across the Arab region, talking to people about sex: what they do, what they don't, what they think and why. Depending on your perspective, this might sound like a dream job or a highly dubious occupation. For me, it is something else altogether. Sex is the lens through which I study society, because what happens in intimate life is shaped by forces on a bigger stage – politics and economics, religion and tradition, gender and generations – and vice versa.As I've found, if you really want to know a people, start by looking inside their bedrooms. And if you really want to know yourself, start by writing a book.
I'm Egyptian and Muslim, but I grew up in the west, far from my Arab roots. I began Sex and the Citadel to help outsiders – like myself – to better comprehend this pivotal part of the world, up-close and personal. But in the end, my book is as much for those inside the region, for the hundreds of men and women who so generously shared their experiences and expertise, and for the many more I have yet to meet.
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