{
  "id": 15011952,
  "title": "Judge by day, novelist by night: How Ashraf Elashmawy found compassion through fiction",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/judge-by-day-novelist-by-night-how-ashraf-elashmawy-found-compassion",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-16T18:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National UAE",
    "slug": "the-national-uae",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/2026/10/16/judge-by-day-novelist-by-night-how-ashraf-elashmawy-found-compassion-through-fiction/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ashraf Elashmawy, a criminal court judge and novelist, draws inspiration for his work from the real-life situations he encounters in his legal career. One odd case involved a peacock stolen from Cairo Zoo in 1990, which later became part of his 2019 novel, The House of the Coptic Woman. Now, Elashmawy's latest book, Births in the Zoo, has won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award. He describes his writing style as \"absurd realism,\" as he finds reality to be stranger than fiction. Elashmawy's legal experience has given him a unique perspective on Egyptian society, allowing him to write with a deeper understanding of human behavior. His works feature characters struggling with social restrictions, deception, and self-interest, often highlighting the absurdity of life in Egypt. Elashmawy believes that being a judge and a novelist are interconnected, and his judicial experience has made him a more humane judge. Despite his growing international readership, Elashmawy considers writing a hobby and not a professional obligation.",
  "summary": "One of the stranger cases Ashraf Elashmawy investigated during his legal career involved a missing bird. It was 1990, and the young Egyptian prosecutor was assigned a case involving a peacock stolen from Cairo Zoo. “The bird was actually taken home by the zoo guard, slaughtered by his wife and served with molokhia, a traditional Egyptian dish,” Elashmawy recalls. The incident later found its way…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National Business",
        "title": "Judge by day, novelist by night: How Ashraf Elashmawy found compassion through fiction",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/judge-by-day-novelist-by-night-how-ashraf-elashmawy-found-compassion-15015003",
        "published": "2026-10-16T18:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}