Women Authors In The Region:
8 Writers To Read

written by: Ahmad Amaireh

AMMAN – From Aisha Taymur‘s Mir’at alTa’mul fi al-Umur (The Mirror of Contemplation) to Virginia Woolf‘s a Room of One’s Own, women have persistently been fighting for recognition within the literary realm. Publishing anonymously or under an alias, and getting their work stolen and uncredited; Their fingers wording a muted protest.

Women of colour, however, have been persistently biting the bullet of underrepresentation in the literary world. A prime example is the Arabic Booker Prize (the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world); wherein the last 11 years, only two women were awarded. The first being the Saudi author Raja’a Alem who was a joint winner with Moroccan author Mohammed Achaari in 2011, and it was not until April of 2019 that the prize was solely awarded to Hoda Barakat for her book Bareed Al-Lail.

This listicle will therefore help shed light on 8 resilient women of colour who fought to produce exceptional contemporary works from our region:

Fatema Mernissi:

(1940, Moroccan)

Fatema Mernissi, acceptance speech of Erasmus Prize 2004 (the Netherlands). Photograph: Courtesy of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation.

The grandchild of a woman who was one of nine wives, Mernissi grew up with an unmatched keenness. Raised up in Morocco, Fez, she was blessed by a relatively progressive father who allowed her education. She pursued her undergraduate degree in Sociology at the Muhammad V University in Rabat, worked in Paris as a Journalist, and later obtained her Ph.D. in sociology from Brandeis University in the U.S. Later in life, she returned to Morocco to teach Sociology at the same university she obtained her bachelor’s degree from.

Mernissi focused her work on the Moroccan society, exploring the links between the socio-political situation and the Muslim women’s sexuality, gender identity, and autonomy. Her book Doing Daily Battle (1988) stands as a remarkable example where she emphasizes on the importance of giving voices to Moroccan women in order to debunk the patriarchal image of the Muslim woman in the Quran. She’s also known for her radical interpretation of Islamic texts, seen in her debut book, Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society (1975), which resulted in making her one of the most famous Muslim feminists of the 21st century.

Inaam Kachachi:

(1952, Iraqi)

Inaam Kachachi, for her shortlist montage with the IPAF, 2014, Vimeo

One of the most prominent Iraqi writers in contemporary Arabic literature; Kachachi was born in Baghdad, where she studied Journalism before moving to Paris to obtain her Ph.D. and wrote for various well-known Arabic newspapers. Kachachi wrote two non-fictional books about Iraqi women and produced a documentary about the co-founder and first president of the Iraqi Women League, Naziha al-Dulaimi.                      

She has proved herself when she got shortlisted for the IPAF awards for her second novel, The American Granddaughter (2011). It stood out as it recounts the authentic experience of a woman who returns to Baghdad at the brim of the American occupation of Iraq. Torn between two different worlds; the book has showcased the true colours of the American so-called ‘promising’ war while also breaking down the human conscious to its very moral core.

Fadia Faqir:

(1956, Jordanian-British)

Fadia Faqir in her interview introducing her book with Quercus Publishing, 26 Feb 2014, Youtube.

One of Jordan’s most fearless writers, Faqir is an academic who did her BA in English literature at the University of Jordan and later immigrated to England to obtain both her MA and Ph.D. in creative writing. Faqir is a human rights advocate who worked at various universities and in various positions, she was an Arabic Language instructor and a lecturer where she taught language, modern Arabic literature, and gender studies.

Her highly-acclaimed book, My Name is Salma (2017) –The Cry of The Dove, US version- was banned in Jordan at first publication  for exposing the reality of its patriarchal society and shedding the light on one of its most sensitive issues; Honour killings. Her other book, Pillars of Salt (1996) got a special tinge to it as it’s set in colonial and postcolonial Jordan, Fadia here narrates the story of two women whose fate is played by the patriarchy and British imperialism. Angela Carter has described it as “Compulsive reading. A feminist vision of Orientalism”.

Ahdaf Soueif: 

(1950, Egyptian)

Ahdaf Soueif photographed by Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian.

The silver-tongued writer of present-time Egypt, Ahdaf was born in Cairo and educated in Egypt and England. She acquired a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Lancaster. Ahdaf is mostly known for her novels, mainly her second; The Map of Love (1999) which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize. She was also a political commentator on Egyptian and Palestinian issues alike. Her sister; Laila Soueif, is a women rights activist and a mathematician.

While Soueif is a widely renowned novelist, one cannot deny her divine eloquence. Her translation for Mourid Barghouti‘s I Saw Ramallah (2000) is acclaimed as one of the rare works where a translation truly depicts the Arabic language. And her debut, In the Eye of the Sun (1992) is a detail-oriented account of a young elite woman who marries a Western man, where Soueif dives head first to break down the complexity of human relations, marriages, and Eastern/Western dichotomy.

Raja’a Alem:

(1970, Saudi Arabian)

Raja’a Alem, 5ème festival des littératures policières de Toulouse Interview, image by Christelle Guillaumot

Alem is a notable Saudi writer who was born in Mecca. She did her B.A. in English literature before residing in Paris. She is known as the co-founder of a culture club and a recreation center for girls along with her sister; which allows women the exposure to cultural and creative knowledge. Raja’a is best known as the first Arab woman to jointly win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

Aside from her plays and short stories, her novel The Dove’s Necklace (2010) gained instant attention as it narrates the story of a woman’s body that was found in one of Mecca’s dark alleys. It stirs the entire city- it’s profanity and nakedness repulsive- pinpointing the many contradictions of a society with a satirical writing style. This crime novel not only got banned instantly but won her the most prestigious award any Arab writer would wish for a year later.    

Susan Abulhawa:

(1970, Palestinian-American)

Susan Abulhawa, at a rally supporting Palestine in Philadelphia on April 12, 2018. Joe Piette

The daughter of the 1967 Six-Day War refugees. Susan was born in Kuwait and later went to study biomedical sciences at the University of South Carolina. She is a known as Palestinian writer and a political activist who found her resistance in writing. From her anthologies to novels to articles, her work tackles the intersectional Palestinian struggle. She’s also the founder of an NGO called Playgrounds for Palestine.

Susan‘s Mornings in Jenin (2006), inspired by Kanafani‘s Return to Haifa, stirred so much controversy as one of the first books to tackle the life of Palestinians post- the 1948 war. Labeled by many critics as anti-semitic and anti-Israeli, and getting banned in many countries, including Jordan. It still gained so much recognition for its sensible and utterly heartbreaking portrayal of the tragedy of the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian woman. Her second book, The Blue Between Sky and Water (2015) has proved once published that Susan has definitely obtained an immortal spot the Palestinian literary society.

Assia Djebar: 

(1936, Algerian)

Assia Djebar, before giving her speech at the French Academy, June 22, 2006, Philippe Wojazer

Alegria’s top Francophonic writer, Fatma-Zohra Imalhayène, or Assia Djebar (pen-name), was born and educated in Algeria before leaving for France to continue her education. During her time, her work was described as anti-colonial and anti-patriarchal. She wrote, translated and produced films and taught both in Algeria and U.S. Most of Djebar work concerned the Algerian woman and the French language, she was also considered one of North Africa’s most influential writers.

Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1980) is one of Dejbar‘s books that was inspired by Eugène Delacroix‘s painting: The Women of Algiers. It’s a collection of short stories that draw on the struggle of three Muslim Algerian women in pre and post colonial Algeria. Children of the New World (1962) also stood out, as it’s a multi-perspective account that narrates the stories of different women in the third person, it indulges in the post-independence identity struggle of the Algerians, specifically Algerian women.

Hoda Barakat:

(1952, Lebanese)

Hoda Barakat talking about her book at the IPAF event, April 23, 2019, Kheridine Mabrouk

The first woman to ever win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction solely, Hoda is a Lebanese author who lived most of her life in Beirut before moving to Paris. She studied French Literature at the Lebanese University before. Her work concentrates on identity, warfare, and PTSD.

Her book, The Stone of Laughter (1990) was the first in the Arab world to present a queer main character yet it was seen by countless critics as one of the best novels set in the Lebanese civil war, and it ultimately won her the Naqid Prize. Hoda is known for her highly surrealist and a descriptive writing style, in the Tiller of Waters (2001) she writes a story about the Lebanese civil war that takes you on a journey from the beauty of it to the rubble of war and destruction. All that through the mind of the hallucinating protagonist in love with his maid.