Alawiya Sobh (

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 ...

: علوية صبح) (born 1955) is a Lebanese writer and author.

Biography

Born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Sobh studied English & Arabic Literature at the

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU) (, ) is the only public university in Beirut, Lebanon. It is ranked #701–750 worldwide in terms of education. The creation of the Lebanese University was an idea first mentioned in the speech of the former Minist ...

. Upon graduation in 1978, she pursued a career in teaching. She also began publishing articles and short stories, at first in ''An-Nida'' newspaper and then in ''

An-Nahar ''An-Nahar'' ( ar, النهار, lit=The Day or The Morning) is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, ''An-Nahar'' was described by the ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' as the newspaper of record f ...

''. After a spell as cultural editor, she became editor-in-chief of ''Al-Hasnaa'', a popular Arabic women's magazine, in 1986. In the early 1990s, she became editor-in-chief of women's magazine ''Snob Al-Hasnaa’''. In 2009, Sobh served on the judging panel of the

Beirut39 Beirut39 is a collaborative project between the Hay Festival, Beirut UNESCO's World Book Capital 2009 celebrations, ''Banipal'' magazine and the British Council among others in order to identify 39 of the most promising Arab writers under the age o ...

competition. Sobh is now dedicating her time only to writing.

Works

Short Stories * ''Slumber of Days'' (1986) Novels (All novels were published originally at Dar Al Adab in their native Arabic language) * 2002 - ''Maryam Al-Hakaya'' (''Maryam: Keeper of the Stories'') * 2006 - ''Dunya'' (''Life'') * 2009 - ''Ismuhu Al-Gharam'' (''It's Called Passion'') * 2020 - ''An Taashak Al-Hayat'' (''To Love Life'') Translations * ''Maryam Al-Hayaka'' was translated into English by

Seagull Books Seagull Books is a publishing venture begun in Kolkata in 1982 by Naveen Kishore, a theater practitioner. It began primarily as a response to the growing need for an Indian publishing house for theater and the other arts and since then it has ...

, into French by Gallimard and into German by

Suhrkamp Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010 the ...

. * ''Dunya'' was translated into Italian by

Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

. * ''Ismuhu Al-Gharam'' was translated into Italian by

and into Romanian by

Polirom Polirom or Editura Polirom ("Polirom" Publishing House) is a Romanian publishing house with a tradition of publishing classics of international literature and also various titles in the fields of social sciences, such as psychology, sociology and a ...

Reception of work

Sobh's work has been critically acclaimed and is the subject of numerous doctoral works and literary studies. For her literary accomplishments and innovative writing, Sobh received the

Sultan Qaboos Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

prize in Oman in 2007. Her novels ''Dunya'' and ''Ismuhu Al-Gharam'' were long-listed for the

Arabic Booker Prize The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) ( ar, الجائزة العالمية للرواية العربية) is the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world. Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic ...

in 2008 and 2010, respectively. In 2016, an eponymous award dubbed the "Alawiya Sobh Literary critique Award" was launched at Abdelmalek Essaâdi University in

Tétouan Tétouan ( ar, تطوان, tiṭwān, ber, ⵜⵉⵟⵟⴰⵡⴰⵏ, tiṭṭawan; es, Tetuán) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles so ...

for participants whose critiques center around Sobh's work. ''Maryam: Keeper of Stories'' was short-listed in 2019 for the

EBRD Literature Prize The EBRD Literature Prize is a literary prize established in 2017 by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. As per the bank, the prize celebrates the "literary richness" of its operational regions, which spans some 40 countries across ...

. Sobh's cumulative work then proceeded to earn her the

Al Owais Award The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards (or Al Owais Awards; ar, جائزة سلطان بن علي العويس) are a biannual prize for literary and cultural achievement in the Arab world.Sheikh Zayed Book Award The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award begun in the UAE. It is presented yearly to "Arab writers, intellectuals, publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab ...

's Literature section.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobh, Alawiya 1955 births Writers from Beirut Lebanese journalists Lebanese novelists Lebanese women writers Lebanese University alumni Living people Lebanese women novelists Lebanese women short story writers Lebanese short story writers Lebanese women journalists 21st-century novelists 20th-century short story writers 21st-century short story writers 20th-century Lebanese women writers 20th-century Lebanese writers 21st-century Lebanese women writers 21st-century Lebanese writers