Amel Mokhtar (; born February 4, 1964) is a Tunisian journalist and novelist. She has won several prizes, including the COMAR Special Prize in 2006 for her novel ''Māystrū'' (Maestro).

Biography

Mokhtar was born in the town of

Maktar Maktar or Makthar ( ar, مكثر), also known by other names during antiquity, is a town and archaeological site in Siliana Governorate, Tunisia. Maktar was founded by the Berber Numidians as a defense post against Carthaginian expansion. At th ...

in the

Siliana Governorate Siliana Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia, is landlocked and is in the north of the country. It covers an area of 4,631 km2 and has a population of 223,087 (2014 census). The capital is Silia ...

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. She completed a bachelor's degree in Natural Science at the University of Tunis and began a career in journalism in 1985. Mokhtar published many short stories in Tunisian newspapers and Arab literary magazines. She published her first novel, ''Nakhab al-hāyat'', in 1993 with Dar al-Adab in Beirut; she was the first Tunisian woman to publish with this prestigious press. She then published a short story collection entitled ''La taʿshiqī hādha al-rajul'' and her novel ''al-Kursī al-hazzāz'' in 2003. She has won several prizes such as the Tunisian ministry of culture's prize for literary innovation in 1994 and the COMAR Special Prize (for "remarkable originality in a novel") for her novel ''Māystrū'' in 2006.

Works

Novels

* (1993) ''Nakhab al-hāyat'' ( (Toasts to life)) * (2003) ''al-Kursī al-hazzāz'' ( (The rocking chair)) * (2007) ''Māystrū'' ( (Maestro)) * (2013) ''Dukhan al-qasr'' ( (Smoke of the palace))

Short story collections

* (2003) ''La taʿshiqī hādha al-rajul'' ( (Don't love this man)) * (2004) ''li-al-Mārid wajha jamīl'' ( (The monster has a pretty face)) * (2015) ''Ḥafal al-ʾashbāḥ'' ( (Party of ghosts))

Awards and honours

* (1988) Taher Hedad prize for short stories * (1994) Ministry of Culture prize for creative literature (for her novel ''Toast to Life'') * (2006) COMAR Special Prize for Tunisian Novel (for ''Maestro'') * (2015) CTAM'ART Prize (2nd Place) for Culture and Creativity (for ''Party of ghosts'')

References

Living people 1964 births 20th-century Tunisian women writers 20th-century Tunisian writers 21st-century Tunisian writers 21st-century Tunisian women writers Tunisian novelists Tunisian journalists People from Siliana Governorate {{Tunisia-writer-stub