Ahmed Ibrahim al-Fagih (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: أحمد إبراهيم الفقيه ''’áħmad 'Ibrāhīm al-faqīh'') (December 28, 1942 – April 30, 2019) was a Libyan novelist,

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essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and diplomat. He began writing short stories at an early age publishing them in

Libyan newspapers Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

and magazines. He gained recognition in 1965 when his first collection of short stories ''There Is No Water in the Sea'' (

: البحر لا ماء فيه) won him the highest award sponsored by the Royal Commission of Fine Arts in Libya. Fagih wrote many more books in different genres, including short stories, novels, plays, essays, among them ''Gazelles'' (play), ''Evening Visitor'' (play), ''Gardens of the Night Trilogy'' (novels), ''The Valley of Ashes'' (novel), and his 12-volume epic novel ''Maps of the Soul'', which had its first three volumes translated into English and published by

DARF Publishers Darf Publishers is an independent British publishing house established in London in 1980 focusing on publishing books on the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab World in English. Initially, most of Darf's books were facsimile editions of rare 1 ...

in UK in 2014. Fagih held several diplomatic posts representing

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, in

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and

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. He lived and worked between

and

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Biography

Ahmed Fagih was born in 1942 in Mizda, a small oasis town south of

, where he entered school and studied until his teens before he migrated to Tripoli in 1957 to pursue higher studies and begin his writing career. Fagih travelled in 1962 to Egypt to study journalism with the help of a UNESCO sponsorship program, returning later to Tripoli to work as a journalist. In 1965 he published his first collection of short stories titled ''There Is No Water in the Sea'' (

: ''البحر لا ماء فيه''), which won him the highest award sponsored by the Royal Commission of Fine Arts in Libya. In the late 1960s he travelled to London to study drama and theatre until 1972. After returning from Britain he was appointed the director of the National Institute of Music and Drama. In 1972 Fagih became the editor of the influential cultural and literary newspaper ''The Cultural Weekly'' (

: الاسبوع الثقافي ''al-Usbūʻ al-thaqāfi''), which featured many new Libyan writers. During this period he founded ''The New Theatre ''play and drama group through which he directed/performed in several plays. Fagih became the head of the Department of Arts and Literature at the Libyan Ministry of Information and Culture and in 1978 was one of the founders of the Union of Libyan Writers and was elected as its first Secretary General, later travelling back to London to take a diplomatic position as the press counsellor at the Libyan Embassy in Britain, during which he established the Arab Cultural Trust, which launched a cultural quarterly magazine named ''Azure ''becoming its editor-in-chief. In 1983 he was awarded a

Doctorate of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

PhD from the Faculty of Arts of The

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

submitting a thesis on 'The Libyan short story'. He published his three part novel ''Garden of The Night ''in 1991, which won the best creative work of Beirut Book Fair. In 2000 he edited an English anthology of 13 short stories by Libyan writers.

Works

Short stories

* '' There Is No Water in the Sea ''(1965) البحر لا ماء فيه * ''Fasten Your Seatbelts'' اربطوا أحزمة المقاعد * ''The Stars Vanished So Where Are You? ''أختفت النجوم فأين أنت؟ * ''A Woman of Light'' إمرأة من ضوء * ''Five Beetles Trying the Tree'' خمس خنافس تحاكم الشجرة * ''Mirrors of Venice'' مرايا فينسيا * ''30 Short Stories'' ثلاثون قصة قصيرة

Novels

* ''

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'' فئران بلا جحور * ''Valley of Ashes'' حقول الرماد * ''Shall Present You With Another City'' سأهبك مدينة أخرى * ''These Are The Borders of My Kingdom'' هذه تخوم مملكتي * ''A Tunnel Lit by A Woman'' نفق تضيئه أمرأة واحدة * ''The Trilogy (Garden of The Night)'' الثلاثية الروائية * ''Maps of The Soul'', an epic work of fiction in 12 volumes خرائط الروح

Plays

* ''Gazelles'' الغزالات

References

External links

Banipal Biography page of Ahmed Fagih

Maps of The Soul from DARF Publishers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagih, Ahmed Libyan novelists 1942 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Libyan writers