Ahmad Abdul-Halim, an Egyptian writer and researcher born in 1995, wrote Swaying Bodies as a description of prison experience. While he claims the work is fictional, the visceral and sensory descriptions in the text render the reader deeply affected by the conditions described. Abdul-Halim’s words are additionally strengthened due to their accompaniment by illustrations of Syrian activist and painter Dima Daly. Whether this work is one of true fiction or a masquerading testimony of personal experiences, the reader is shown how prison ordeals indelibly change those who experience them.