Al Shorouk reported on 12 November 2026 that Diwan Heliopolis would host Lee Soo-yeon and translator Mohamed Naguib on 14 November at 7 p.m. Cairo time to discuss « هاتف الوداعات الأخيرة ». This is a scheduled event, not an account of a conversation we attended.
The Al Karma publisher page confirms the credits of the Arabic edition. What follows is not a full review of the novel. It is a way to prepare for an encounter where writing and translation can be discussed together. Readers planning to go should confirm the latest programme and attendance arrangements with Diwan.
Ask about a choice, not the official meaning of everything
An author event can easily turn into a request to explain every unresolved detail. A more productive starting point is a decision: why place this distance between a character and what they understand about themselves? When does silence work better than explanation? Such questions concern the making of a story without requiring its ending to be disclosed.
If you have not read the book, ask what kind of attention its language or pacing rewards. An author can illuminate a process without providing an instruction manual for interpretation. Readers should remain free to reach different conclusions, provided they can connect those conclusions to the text rather than to a remembered claim about what the writer supposedly intended.
Give the translator a concrete passage
Asking whether a translation is faithful is often too broad to produce a revealing answer. A short line of dialogue offers a better opportunity: what Arabic alternatives were considered, and why this rhythm? How does a translation convey closeness, embarrassment or social distance without weighing down the exchange? A worked example can be understood without knowing Korean.
Equally, an unfamiliar expression is not automatically evidence of a mistake. Distance may be part of the fictional world; another passage may genuinely need clarification. The useful question is how a choice shapes a reader's relationship with a character. This turns the discussion towards voice and context instead of staging a contest between the two languages.
Keep literary value separate from promises of healing
A story about goodbye can offer language, companionship or an occasion to reflect on a difficult experience. That does not make it a treatment or guarantee the same effect for everyone. At a public discussion, asking how a character is written is more appropriate than expecting an author to provide individual guidance beyond the literary setting.
A reader is also free to postpone a book whose subject feels too demanding at a particular moment. Two people can respect the same work while feeling very different levels of personal connection. A worthwhile discussion leaves room for this difference, rather than requiring a shared emotional response as evidence that everyone has understood correctly.
Take three questions and keep the voices distinct
A small notebook is enough: one question about a scene, another about a translation decision and a third about an idea that remains open. While listening, separate what a guest actually says from your own interpretation. If you later share a remark, preserve its context and make clear when you are paraphrasing rather than quoting a verified recording.
Readers who cannot attend can use an authorised sample and revisit their expectations after finishing the book. A signing begins a relationship with a text; it cannot substitute for that relationship. The lasting value is learning to hear a translated novel as literature while becoming more aware of the linguistic work that made it available to a new readership.