The Magic Clock, Choueifat Primary School Play, Egypt, 2015
During her time as an Elementary English teacher over the course of eight months, Dina wrote and directed the annual Primary School Musical at The International School of Choueifat 6 of October, Egypt.
This humorous tale depicts two students thrown into detention for “wasting time” where they are then taken back in time by The Magic Clock who teaches them a lesson or two.
A Curriculum of Contradictions: State-Sponsored Children’s Literature in Egypt (1954-2011), Cambridge Open-Review Educational Research e-Journal CORERJ, 2015
A select part of Dina’s Masters thesis was selected for publication at Cambridge’s education research journal. This paper tracks the changes in the ideology presented in the public 4th grade Arabic literature curriculum.
This paper can be viewed online here.
Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Who is the funniest of them all? Goha, of course!, Rowayat, Issue 3, 2014
In Issue 3 of Rowayat, Dina wrote an article discussing the Egyptian character from folklore, Goha. This wise, but silly old man is easily loved by all, hence why his stories have withstood centuries.
You can view the website here.
The Palm’s Poem, Rowayat Magazine, Issue 2, Egypt, 2014
Dina’s short story for children, The Palm’s Poem, won first prize for the Student Fiction Award and was published in the second issue of Egypt’s leading literary journal, Rowayat.
“Everything about the tone is deliberate and highly controlled: it’s very nicely composed, and it reads with the clarity and force of parable without ever sounding didactic- the highest compliment I can give to writing of this kind.” (Words from one of the Judges)
Farah and Fares, Kaleidoscope Magazine, Issues 1-7, Online, Egypt, 2012-2013
In her final year of university, Dina started Kaleidoscope magazine, Egypt’s first English Children’s Magazine. With the motto of “Education, Creativity, Interactivity”, this magazine offered short stories, articles, facts, games, review, and doctor advice to children between the ages of 8-12. This small business grew to provide to over 100 monthly subscribers and 30 schools around Cairo. Upon leaving for her masters, the magazine was put on hold and the website is currently unavailable.
Prose & Poetry, The AUC Collective Works I, II & III, Writers show The World their Nation WTWN, Egypt, 2010-2012
During her undergraduate degree at The American University in Cairo (AUC), Dina founded and led a writing group, Writers show The World their Nation (WTWN), which published an annual Collective Works Book. This book contains English and Arabic literature and artwork of AUC students. Some of the work showcased was heavily influenced by the January 2011 revolution in Egypt, as shown in the second edition (red cover). Dina contributed prose and poetry to these works.
Poetry, Papyrus, Egypt, 2006-2008
During High School, Dina published poetry in her school’s annual Papyrus, a collective works for art and literature, which later inspired WTWN’s Collective Works books, shown above. In 2006, she published one poem ‘Choking’; in 2007, she published ‘Patience Thin’ and ‘The Monarch’; finally in 2008, she published ‘The Bull’ and ‘I’.
Dina Elabd 
