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Hanan al-Shaykh

1945 – present

Hanan al-Shaykh is a Lebanese writer whose novels and short stories examine the lives of Arab women, war in Lebanon, and exile. Her books include The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh and Beirut Blues, and she has lived in London since the early 1980s.

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Life events

Birth in Beirut
1945

Born into a Shia Muslim family in Beirut, Lebanon.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studies at the American College for Girls in Cairo
1963 – 1966

Left Beirut to study in Egypt, where she began writing fiction.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Journalist in Beirut
1966

Returned to Lebanon and worked as a journalist, including for the newspaper An-Nahar.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
First novel published
1970

Her debut novel, Suicide of a Dead Man, appeared in Arabic.

Achievement ?
Leaves Lebanon during the civil war
c. 1976

Departed Beirut after the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War and spent several years in the Arabian Peninsula.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relocation ✓
Publication of The Story of Zahra
1980

Her novel about a young woman in wartime Beirut brought her international attention.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Settles in London
1982

Made London her permanent home, continuing to write in Arabic.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relocation ✓
Publication of The Locust and the Bird
2009

A memoir reconstructing the life of her mother, Kamila.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Retelling of One Thousand and One Nights
2011

Published a new version of tales from the Arabian Nights, later adapted for the stage.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓