ESL 8
My Literary Inspiration, Yusuf Ma’aty
Winner of the Literary Inspirations Essay Contest
Mona Mohammed Bakr Hussein
and books since the 80s. Many of his books and
stories were transferred to movies and TV series
and they were acted by famous actors and comedi-
ans. What is unique about him and about his style
of writing is that Ma’aty simplifies everything no
matter how hard the concept is.
He could be speaking about religion, loyalty, pov-
erty or any social problem, but the way he simpli-
fies it and tackles the problem from an ironic per-
spective makes people laugh and have fun and yet
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies...
still understand the essence of the problem.
The man who never reads lives only once.” -
George R.R. Martin
If you have not tried it yourself, it will be hard
for you to understand how someone’s words can
change your life, your perspective and the way
you perceive things around you. Reading takes
you to worlds you never knew existed, where you
meet people you never thought you would know.
I would not be the person I am today if I wasn’t
inspired, influenced and greatly affected by the
books I have read throughout my life.
One of the people who have greatly influenced my
character was Yusuf Ma’aty. Matty is a TV pre-
senter who presented very serious shows while be-
ing a sarcastic writer. He had many novels, articles
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When I started reading Ma’aty, I was a teenager. I
was drawn to his style of writing as he has a very
simple and funny style. His sarcastic style of writ-
ing taught me that no matter how funny the person
is or how simple his/her words are you should nev-
er take him/her for granted or underestimate him/
her. It taught me that I should always respect peo-
ple and try to understand what they’re truly talking
about.
It taught me as well that if you want to affect peo-
ple’s lives or if you want them to understand some-
thing you don’t have to always use big words;
sometimes it’s better to use down-to- Earth, day-
to-day words that can make a greater influence and
help them better understand what you mean.