Alia Mamdouh
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Alia Mamdouh, also spelled Aliyah Mamduh (Arabic: عالية ممدوح, romanized: ʻĀliyah Mamdūḥ; born 1944) is an Iraqi novelist, author, and journalist living in exile in Paris, France.
She won the 2004 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for her novel The Loved Ones.[1][2] She is most known for her widely acclaimed and translated book Naphtalene, originally written in Arabic.[3] Her 2020 novel The Tank was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.[1][4]
Mamdouh was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1944. After completing her degree in psychology from the University of Mustansiriya in 1971, while at the same time working as editor-in-chief of Al Rasid magazine and editor of al-Fikr al-mua’sir magazine, Mamdouh decided to move in 1982. She has since lived in Beirut, Morocco, and finally Paris, where she currently lives. She continues to write.[1]
She cites Albert Camus as an influence.[5]
Works
[edit]- Overture for Laughter (short stories) (1973)
- Habbat-al-Naphatalin / Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad (Original Arabic published by al-Hay'ah al-Masriah Al-Amah lil-Kitab, Cairo, 1986; Arabic translation published by Garnet in 1986 by Peter Theroux)[6][7]
- ftitahiya lil Dahik (Prelude to Laughter) (1971)
- Hawamish ilal Sayyida Ba (Notes to Mrs. B) (1973)
- Layla wa Al-Dhib (Laila and the Wolf) (1981)
- Habbat Al-Naftalin (Mothballs) (1986)
- Al-Wala (Passion) (1993)
- Al-Ghulama (The Maiden) (2000)
- The Loved Ones (2003)
- Al-Mahbubat (2005)
- The Tank (2020)[8]
Mamdouh writes in Arabic, and two of her works have been translated to English: Naphtalene (translated by Peter Thereoux) and The Loved Ones (translated by Marilyn Booth).[9]
Most Mamdouh's books are about Iraq, though she has lived abroad for decades. On the idea of writing about her country while outside of it, she has stated: "Every day I look at my country’s situation and depict its virtues and delights, atrocities and grievances in each novel....I did not leave it, and so it did not leave me."[5]
Her first novel, Naphtalene, published soon after she left Iraq, tells the story of a young girl growing up in Baghdad in the 1940s and 1950s.[7][10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bedirian, Razmig (2020-09-27). "Why Alia Mamdouh's latest novel is her most personal to date: 'Some characters infect us like scarlet fever'". The National. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ Powell's Books - Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad by Alia Mamdouh
- ^ "Alia Mamdouh | International Prize for Arabic Fiction". www.arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "2020 Shortlisted authors: What it means to be shortlisted | International Prize for Arabic Fiction". www.arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ a b "Interview with shortlisted author Alia Mamdouh | International Prize for Arabic Fiction". www.arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ Mamdouh, Alia (2013-08-31). Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad. The Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 978-1-55861-712-4.
- ^ a b "Mamdouh: Naphthalene | The Modern Novel". www.themodernnovel.org. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ "The Tank | International Prize for Arabic Fiction". www.arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ Mamdouh, Alia; Saeed, Hend (2020-01-27). "New Fiction: An Excerpt from Alia Mamdouh's IPAF-longlisted 'The Tank'". ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ NAPHTALENE | Kirkus Reviews.
External links
[edit]- An Excerpt from Alia Mamdouh’s The Tank
- Article on Alia Mamdouh Archived 2007-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
- Review on The Loved Ones
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