Librarians, book lovers, and fellow authors are eagerly awaiting the safe return of children's book authors Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy, who are among thousands of foreign tourists and expats trying to leave Egypt as unprecedented violent antigovernment protests continue to rock Cairo and Alexandria.
Bruce Coville's Facebook photo.
The authors were spending the week at Alexandria's Schutz American School, where they were invited by Carrie Danziger, the niece of the late Paula Danziger, author of such teen classics as The Cat Ate My Gym Suit (Putnam, 1974).
Coville and Levy arrived in Egypt Friday, January 21-just four days before demonstrators took to the streets demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule and to protest economic woes in the North African nation. The protests came days after Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced into exile by demonstrations in his home country.
By early Friday, January 28, Coville assured his Facebook friends that he and Levy were safe and out of danger. "Thank you for your concern everyone. We're in Giza, outside of Cairo, and all is calm here. The protests are centered in the city." But later that day, the area was placed under a curfew, "hotel closed to entry and exit at 6:00 PM tonight," he wrote.
By Saturday, things had gotten "a bit trickier," and the two were unable to secure a flight home. By that evening, the authors saw flames erupting from the National Democratic Party Headquarters. "Yet there is an almost eerie silence from where we are. Few people on the streets now (it's about 10 PM Egypt time)," Coville posted that night on Facebook. "I suspect it may heat up later. The edge of the Nile is not more than a hundred feet from our balcony, but the river is silent, without traffic, an empty highway." Meanwhile, their Egyptian guide spent Saturday night armed with a lead pipe patrolling his neighborhood against looting.
The American Embassy announced that, starting Monday, it was organizing chartered flights to evacuate its citizens "to safe-haven locations" in Europe. It urged Americans in Egypt to "consider leaving as soon as they can safely do so."
It's unclear whether the authors, who had planned to fly out Wednesday, will be evacuated earlier.
Elizabeth Levy in Egypt.
Syracuse-based Colville is author of the "Alien"and "Moongobble" (both Aladdin) series, both popular with elementary aged readers. He also founded Full Cast Audio, a company that produces unabridged, full cast recordings of books for young readers.
New York City-based Levy wrote the "Something Queer Mystery" series (Random House) and recently joined forces with Caldecott medalist, Mordici Gerstein, to write Danger and Diamonds (Roaring Brook, 2010), the first book of the "Mystery at Sea"series.
Talk of their situation was abuzz at the opening reception for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) winter conference from January 28- 30 in New York City. While at the event Fran Manushkin, author of The Tushy Book (Macmillan, 2009), read Colville's post with great interest. Meanwhile, on Facebook, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, creator of "The Lunchlady"(Knopf) series posted "We are thinking of you in Massachusetts too.Stay safe and please know that we are pulling for your safe return!"
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