www.awad-geissler.atJohanna-Isabella Awad-Geissler is connected to the Middle East and its people through a very special relationship. Born and raised in Vienna, Austria, she went to Egypt at the age of twenty, together with her husband, a young theatre director. She lived in Cairo for eight years, embedded in an Egyptian family, with many friends, among them some of Egypt's most famous movie and theatre stars. She worked for Radio Cairo's foreign language services as a journalist and newscaster, watching closely the ups and downs of Middle Eastern politics. Her life in two cultures helped her develop an instinct and understanding for the mindsets and political climates in both regions - and a desire to find and point to the common ground, to the shared human experience. So far she has published two books: "Safia" and "Die Schattenkalifin", both by Droemer-Knaur, Munich. "Safia" was translated into Dutch, Spanish and Japanese.