Beyond Jokha al-Harthi: Women Writers from the Gulf

When Jokha al-Harthi and Marilyn Booth won the Man Booker International Prize last year, for Booth’s translation of Sayyidat al-Qamr (Celestial Bodies), many hurried to note that al-Harthi was the “first Omani woman writer” to have a book in English translation.While true, this may give the mistaken impression that there is something new about women's writing from the Gulf. But women on the peninsula have been composing sophisticated literature for centuries. Al-Khansa (575-645 AD), who was born and died on the Arabian Peninsula, is said to have been told by an admiring male writer that she was “the greatest poet among those with breasts.” Al-Khansa is said to have replied, archly: “I am the greatest poet among those with testicles, too.” Her work can be read, in vibrant translation, in James Montgomery’s Loss Sings.Prominent poet-filmmaker Nujoom Ghanem, in a 2016 interview that focused on her literary ancestors, had a similar barb: “The majority of poets in our world are male, but quantity does not make quality.” Yet among the younger generation of writers, women often dominate. In Yemen, the UAE, Kuwait, and elsewhere, emerging women writers have been flooding into writing workshops and literary seminars. Each Gulf country could have its own list of 10 women writers. Here are just a few to seek out:Raja Alem (Saudi) – Alem was the first woman to co-win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), for her classic Mecca novel The Doves’ Necklace (translated by Adam... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2020-02-19 10:26:57 UTC ]
News tagged with: #salha obaid #london book fair #first novel #bookstore #picture book #man booker international prize

Other news stories related to: "Beyond Jokha al-Harthi: Women Writers from the Gulf"


Women writers dominate Waterstones 11 list

Eight female novelists have made the Waterstones 11 2012 selection, with three novels each from... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #female novelists


Women writers "unequal to me" says V S Naipaul

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 02/06/2011 - 08:37 Nobel Prize-winning author V S Naipaul has declared that women's writing is "unequal" to his, during an event at the Hay Festival. The writer, who won the Man Booker in 1971 for In a Free State, said during an interview... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #free state #man booker #hay festival #women writers


Want more women writers in magazines? Get more female editors.

As Meghan O'Rourke reported here last week, VIDA, an organization for women writers, has released a tally of male and female bylines for the 2010 run of 14 high-end, literary-oriented magazines. Despite a couple of relatively bright spots (the New York Times Book Review surprisingly being one),... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bright spots


Women ran. Women won. Women changed the rules of American politics.

Caitlin Moscatello recounts the 2018 midterms, which saw more female candidates than ever. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-08-30 12:14:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #american politics


Vicky Williams on Women in Publishing: Women and Men Need to Champion Women

'Women need to almost un-condition themselves,' says Emerald's Vicky Williams, who joins The Markets' panel at Frankfurt Book Fair on women in publishing. The post Vicky Williams on Women in Publishing: Women and Men Need to Champion Women appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Denis Johnson, 'Writer's Writer's Writer,' Dead at 67

The award-winning fiction writer, poet, and playwright, whose best-known and most influential work, the story collection 'Jesus' Son,' turned 25 this year, has died. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #story collection #denis johnson


The joy of sexy fiction, by women for women | Letters

Readers respond to a piece by Zoe Williams in which she reflects on reading smut and notes how attitudes have changedIn her article on reading smut, Zoe Williams focuses on the difference between romance and erotica (My weeks of reading hornily: steamy book sales have doubled - and I soon found... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-08-09 16:55:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #english literature #glass series #zoe williams #readers respond


Writers Talking Writers: China Miéville on Jane Gaskell and Keanu Reeves on Cormac McCarthy

Miéville and Reeves reflect on two writers whose influence can be felt in the duo's new collaboration, 'The Book of Elsewhere.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cormac mccarthy #keanu reeves #china miville


Writers Talking Writers: Paul Theroux on George Orwell and Ferdia Lennon on James Joyce

Two writers discuss the literary forebears who directly inspired their latest novels. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest novels #writers discuss #james joyce #george orwell #paul theroux


Writers Talking Writers: Jennifer Egan on Edith Wharton and Jinwoo Chong on John Okada

Two writers whose work explores the aggregate nature of personal and collective fate discuss authors who were master interrogators of social dualism in their own times. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #edith wharton #jennifer egan


‘The crime writer crime writers read’: Garry Disher, author of 60 books and finding fame in his 70s

The Australian author is ‘incredibly influential’, but has had to survive decades of ‘cultural cringe’ and genre snobbery to make finally ‘a decent sort of living’Before parched and dusty towns across Australia became full of fictional sinister people; before the explosion of outback noir and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 23:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #australian author #bestseller lists #writing workshops


Writers Talking Writers: Emily St. John Mandel on Irène Némirovsky and Sarah Rose Etter on Tove Ditlevson

Two writers whose work investigates how individuals fare when wider forces spin beyond their control discuss literary influences with similar preoccupations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john mandel #emily st


Writer Mothers and Their Writer Children

Author Jill Hoffman, the daughter of a writer, explores her complex relationship with her daughter, yet another writer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #complex relationship


Women’s prize to launch annual award for women’s non-fiction writing

The Women’s Prize Trust hopes to make the first award in 2024, after research showed female writers were far less likely than men to be reviewed or win prizes The Women’s prize is to launch a non-fiction award to sit alongside its long-running fiction prize, in response to research that found... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-08 08:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary agent #charity set #female writers #awarded annually #male counterparts #sit alongside #win prizes #book prize #non-fiction writing


Art reflects how we see women; now women are influencing how we see art

Art historian Catherine McCormack reflects on women as art subjects, makers and curators. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-14 13:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Northern Writers' Awards gives £47k worth of prizes to 27 writers

Twenty-seven writers have been recognised at this year's annual Northern Writers’ Awards, sharing the £47,000 prize fund to enable their new writing in progress, across forms including prose, poetry and television.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-09 14:11:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #northern writers


Why Does Goodreads Have a Problem with Fiction by Women, About Women?

If you’ve used the internet to read book or film reviews in the last decade, you’ve probably heard of the Bechdel test. Cartoonist Alison Bechdel introduced the test in her comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For in 1985 as a means of assessing the ways women are portrayed in fiction. The test... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-21 09:50:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #read book #literary hub


Are You a New York Writer or an LA Writer?

You go to a coffee shop in order to focus on your craft. What do you order?  A. A black coffee.  B. An almond milk matcha.  What is your critically acclaimed debut novel about?  A. A man getting stuck on a subway train and revisiting the weight of all of the mistakes he’s made in […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-01 11:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut novel #electric literature #coffee shop


London Writers Awards celebrates 30 'underrepresented' writers

Spread the Word has chosen 30 writers from underrepresented backgrounds for its second annual London Writers Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-23 16:49:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #underrepresented backgrounds


Celebrating Women in Translation Month: New Translations by Women from around the Globe, by Kayla E. Ciardi

Lit Lists Kayla E. Ciardi For WLT’s November 2016 issue, author and translator Alison Anderson explores and explains in her essay “Of Gatekeepers and Bedtime Stories: The Ongoing Struggle to Make Women’s Voices Heard”—in an issue devoted exclusively to... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-15 14:12:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir #tove jansson #elena ferrante #fairy tale #newfound independence #jennifer croft