Spotlight on Five Female Lebanese Writers

Most people, when questioned about the literary realm of Lebanon, seem to consistently turn back to the golden era of the great Gibran Khalil Gibran.

And can you blame them? The guy is was is a legend. But here’s the thing, it’s time we gave the incredible female talents out there today some attention. Here’s a look at five Lebanese women who are making waves in the literary world.

1. Joumana Haddad

(Photo via Facebook.com)

Iron, you say? This woman has not only ironed away the stereotypical image of the Arab woman, she has soaked it in gasoline, lit a match and unapologetically burned it to the ground in a great heap of ashes.

Haddad, a journalist, blogger, translator, poet and writer, has won many distinguished awards and had many of her works translated into over 15 different languages. A revolution in itself, Haddad continues to take her writers through a fiery, fervent journey of religion, sectarianism, women rights, and more.

“Superman is an Arab”, a personal favorite of mine, is not just a book, but a blossoming manifesto. Read this, folks. Read this, and be enlightened.

Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and at NOW Media.

2. Hoda Barakat

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Barakat’s vivid words and beautiful imagery are striking. Her novels, which have been translated into over a dozen languages, are written in the historically clashing context of our very own Beirut.

One of her most famous and riveting novels, “Hajar al Dihik” (in English, “The Stone of Laughter”), is the first Arabic work to have a homosexual man as its main character.

Barakat grew up in Lebanon and later moved to Paris, where she now lives and writes. “I love and hate Beirut at the same time,” she was once quoted as saying in an interview with Al-Jadeed TV.

We hear you, Hoda. We hear you.

3. Nada Awar Jarrar

(Photo via Geraint-lewis.photoshelter.com)

A Lebanese journalist, Nada Awar Jarrar studied at the International College and later went on to pursue her studies in London, and then America.

Returning to Beirut in the 1990s, Jarrar worked as a journalist for the Daily Star newspaper. In 2003, she published her first book “Somewhere, Home”, for which she won the Commonwealth Best First Book for Southeast Asia and the South Pacific award. This book, which describes the loneliness most women felt during the war, is a moving piece that should definitely be on your to-read list.

Jarrar, who lives in Beirut with her husband and daughter, is currently working on her fourth novel.

4. Venus Khoury-Ghata

(Photo via ecolepoetique.ning.com)

Venus Khoury-Ghata, born in the same mountains where Gibran and Barakat were born, has written beautiful proses and poems. At an early age she won the Miss Beirut beauty pageant and shortly delved into a Marilyn Monroe-esque lifestyle only to later discover that this was not what she wanted from life.

After moving to Paris in 1972, Khoury-Ghata turned to writing – writing which lucidly describes her past and the irregularities between life, death, and everything in between. She’s won several awards, including the 2011 Goncourt Prize.

5. Dania el-Kadi

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Dania el Kadi studied history at the American University of Beirut, and later went to work in Kuwait and the UAE. This young, London-based, woman is swiftly rising to the top of the Arab literary scene with her book, “Summer Blast,” a combination of chick lit and war-themed writing.

El-Kadi, with a subtle style of humor, writes about the war from a different and fresh perspective. The book’s subtitle is “when war threatens Lebanese women’s plans.” Seriously, though, that is spot on.

Check out Dania’s website and follow her on Twitter.