Join us for the 2026 Liverpool Literary Festival

Mahmud El Sayed’s debut science fiction novel, published in May this year, is inspired by the events of the Arab Spring and is an analysis of empire and a portrayal of revolutionary change.

The British-Egyptian writer is a former Middle Eastern politics journalist, now writing science fiction and fantasy. He lives in East London where he spends his time pondering linguistic oddities.

Mahmud El Sayed won the prestigious 2023 Future Worlds prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour, and his work focuses on Arabic and Islamic-inspired themes in a genre he calls Arabfuturism.

Mahmud will be joined in discussion with Dr Will Slocombe, a Reader in the Department of English, co-director of the Stapledon Centre for Speculative Futures, and director of the Science Fiction Studies MA pathway.

Mahmud will be in conversation with Dr Will Slocombe

Click here to book a festival pass.

All passes will include reserved seating in the lecture theatre, plus a host of other exclusive VIP benefits. Please note, the weekend pass does not include the launch event with Roger McGough on Friday 16th October.

There are a number of FREE University of Liverpool student tickets at all festival events. Students who sign up to receive their free ticket will need to add the code STUDENT26 when ordereing and show their student ID when they arrive at the venue.

To visit the festival website and take a look at the rest of the programme please click here

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