This is a list of women writers who were born in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

or whose writings are closely associated with that country.

A

Etel Adnan Etel Adnan ( ar, إيتيل عدنان; 24 February 1925 – 14 November 2021) was a Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist. In 2003, Adnan was named "arguably the most celebrated and accomplished Arab American author writing today" ...

(1925–2021), Lebanese-American poet, essayist, artist, writing in English, French and Arabic * Ezza Agha Malak (born 1942), acclaimed French-language

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, poet * Suzanne Alaywan (born 1974), poet, artist

B

Sahar Baassiri Sahar Baassiri (also spelled Baasiri) ( ar, سحر بعاصيري) is currently Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to UNESCO in Paris. Prior to her move into diplomacy she was a trailblazing Lebanese people, Lebanese journalist. Ms. ...

, since 1981: journalist, non-fiction writer *

Layla Balabakki Layla Balabakki (also Leila/Laila/ Baalbaki/Baalbakki/Balabaki, ar, ليلى بعلبكي) is a Lebanese novelist, journalist, activist, and feminist. Among her most notable works is '' Ana Ahya (I Live)'' (1958) which tells the story of a woman' ...

(born 1936), novelist, journalist, feminist *

Hoda Barakat Hoda Barakat ( ar, هدى بركات) (born 1952) is an award-winning Lebanese novelist. She lived most of her early life in Beirut before moving to Paris, where she now resides. She has published six novels, two plays, a book of short stories, a ...

(born 1952), widely translated Arabic-language novelist, author of ''

The Stone of Laughter ''The Stone of Laughter'' (Arabic: حجر الضحك) is a Lebanese novel, written in 1990 by author Hoda Barakat set during the Lebanese Civil War. The book was translated into English by Sophie Bennett. It is a winner of the Al-Naqid prize and t ...

'' *

Najwa Barakat Najwa Barakat ( ar, نجوى بركات, b. 1966, Beirut) is a Lebanese Arab novelist, journalist and film director. Career After achieving studies in theater (Beirut Fine Arts Institute) and cinema (French cinema Institution), she moves def ...

(born 1966), novelist

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Tracy Chamoun Tracy Chamoun ( ar, ترايسي شمعون) (born on 22 October 1960) is a Lebanese author, diplomat and political activist of Lebanese and Australian descent. She was the Lebanese ambassador to Jordan from August 2017 until 7 August 2020 whe ...

(born 1962), politician, non-fiction writer, memoirist * Youmna Chlala, writer, artist * Amal Clooney (born 1978), Lebanese-born British lawyer, non-fiction writer

D

Raghida Dergham Raghida Dergham ( ar, راغدة درغام; born 1953) is a Lebanese-American journalist based in Lebanon. She is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut Institute and Columnist for Annahar Al Arabi and The National. She served as Columnist, ...

(born 1953), Lebanese-American journalist

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Emily Fares Ibrahim Emily Fares Ibrahim (1914–2011) was an American-born Lebanese writer, poet, and feminist. She was the first woman to run for the elections in Lebanon. Also, she became a notable face of the Lebanese Social Movement. Biography Early life Emily F ...

(born 1914), Lebanese-American writer, poet and feminist *

Zaynab Fawwaz Zaynab Fawwaz (1860–1914) was a Lebanese people, Lebanese women's rights activist, novelist, playwright, poet and historian of famous women. Her novel "''حسن العواقب/Ḥusn al-Awaqib",'' (''The Happy Ending'', 1899) is considered the ...

(1860–1914), poet, novelist, journalist, biographer

H

Joumana Haddad Joumana Haddad ( ar, جمانة حداد) ( Salloum; born December 6, 1970 in Beirut) is a Lebanese author, public speaker, journalist and human rights activist. She has been selected as one of the world’s 100 most powerful Arab women by Arabi ...

(born 1970), widely translated Arabic-language poet, translator, journalist, women's rights activist * Nimat Hamoush, novelist, short story writer *

Renée Hayek Renée Hayek (Arabic: رينيه الحايك) is a Lebanese writer and novelist. She was born in Sarba and studied philosophy at the Lebanese University in Beirut. She has published a number of books, including short story collections and novels ...

, contemporary novelist, short story writer

J

Inaya Jaber Inaya Jaber ( ar, عناية جابر; 1958 – 10 May 2021) was a Lebanese writer, journalist, artist and singer. She has published nine collections of poetry and one collection of short stories. She lived in Beirut. Biography Jaber was born ...

(1958–2021), poet, short story writer, journalist, artist and singer * Nada Awar Jarrar, since 2003: novelist, author of ''Somewhere, home''

K

Anbara Salam Khalidy Anbara Salam Khalidi () (4 August 1897–May 1986) was a Lebanese feminist, translator and author, who significantly contributed to the emancipation of Arab women. Early life and education Khalidi was born into an eminent Lebanese family in ...

(1897–1986), feminist, memoirist, translator * Tara Khattar (born 1993), chef and food writer *

Vénus Khoury-Ghata Vénus Khoury-Ghata (born 1937 in Bsharri, Lebanon) is a French-Lebanese poet and writer. Early life Venus Khoury-Ghata was born into a Maronite family, the daughter of a soldier that spoke French and a mother that was a peasant. She is the old ...

(born 1937), novelist, poet *

Rima Maktabi Rima, also known as Rima the Jungle Girl, is the fictional heroine of W. H. Hudson's 1904 novel '' Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest''. In it, Rima, a primitive girl of the shrinking rain forest of South America, meets Abel, a pol ...

(born 1977), journalist, television reporter *

Jacqueline Massabki Jacqueline Massabki was a Lebanese writer and lawyer born in Beirut, Lebanon. She died there on 1 September 2015. Life and work Jacqueline Massabki was by turns a lawyer and a journalist. She worked as a municipal employee while she studied la ...

(died 2015), novelist and lawyer *

Fatin al-Murr Faten el-Murr (Arabic: فاتن المرّ; born 1969) is a Lebanese academic and writer. She is a holder of a doctorate degree, she is currently a professor of French literature at the Lebanese University in Zahle. Works Her first work of fict ...

(born 1969), Arabic-language short story writer, novelist * Diane Mazloum (born 1980), French-Lebanese writer

N

Layal Najib Layal Najib, also Romanized Nagib, Nejib or Najeeb, ( ar, ليال نجيب; died 23 July 2006) was a Lebanese photojournalist for Agence France Press and ''Al Jaras'' (Translated: The Bell) and is the first journalist killed during the 2006 Leban ...

(c.1983–2006), photojournalist, killed during the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

Emily Nasrallah Emily Daoud Nasrallah ( ar, إيميلي داود نصر الله) ('' née'' Abi Rached; 6 July 1931 – 13 March 2018) was a Lebanese writer and women's rights activist. She graduated from the Beirut College for Women (now the Lebanese Ameri ...

(1931–2018), novelist, journalist, short story writer, women's rights activist *

Octavia Nasr Octavia Nasr ( ar, اوكتافيا نصر) (born 13 March 1966) is a Lebanese-American Rhetoric scholar anauthorwhosresearchfocuses on Yoga's identity and ethical code and how they apply to journalism and other fields. She is a certified yoga i ...

(born 1966), journalist, CNN reporter

Q

Najwa Qassem Najwa Kassem ( ar, نجوى قاسم, romanized as ''Qasem'', ''Qassim'', and ''Kassem''; 7 July 1967 – 2 January 2020) was a Lebanese journalist and television presenter (anchor) for Al Jadeed, Future TV and Al Arabiya. Kassem has received ...

(1967–2020), contemporary journalist, television reporter since 1993

R

Salima Abi Rashed Salima Abi Rashed (1887–1919; ), was a Lebanese lawyer and journalist, considered the country's first female lawyer. She founded one of Lebanon's earliest women's magazines, ''Fatat Lobnan'', in 1914. Biography Salima Abi Rashed was born in 18 ...

(1887–1919), journalist

S

Dalal Khalil Safadi Dalal Khalil Safadi (1898 – February 4, 1976; ) was a Lebanese writer and translator. Considered a pioneer in the short story genre among Middle Eastern women, she was the first woman to publish a short story collection in Iraq. Early life and ...

(1898–1876), short story writer, translator * Nadia Sahari (born 1968), Lebanese-American writer, actress and businesswoman *

Widad Sakakini Widad Sakakini ( ar, وداد سكاكيني; 1913–1991) was a writer and critic from Syria. Life Sakakini was born in Sidon, Ottoman Syria (now Lebanon) in 1913 and studied under the theologian Mustapha Al-Ghalayini in Beirut. She wrote f ...

(1913–1991), short story writer, novelist, critic *

Afifa Al Shartouni Afifa Al Shartouni (25 March 1886 – 6 February 1906) was a Lebanese author. Born in Beirut, she married Nasri Mousa and traveled with him to Brazil, where she died shortly after. Biography Born in Beirut, Lebanon, on 25 March 1886, she spent her ...

(1886–1906) writer, poet *

Hanan al-Shaykh Hanan al-Shaykh ( ar, حنان الشيخ; born 12 November 1945, Beirut) is a Lebanese author of contemporary literature. Biography Hanan al-Shaykh was born Beirut, Lebanon, in 1945, into a strict Shi'a family. Her father and brother exerte ...

(born 1945), journalist, novelist, author of ''

Women of Sand and Myrrh ''Women of Sand and Myrrh'' is a novel written by Hanan al-Shaykh. It was originally published in 1989 as ''Misk al-ghazal'' () and was published in English in 1992. The English translator is Catherine Cobham. ''Publishers Weekly'' chose ''Wome ...

'' * Alawiya Sobh (born 1955), novelist, magazine editor *

Nazik Saba Yared Nazik Saba Yared (born 11 April 1928 in Jerusalem, Palestine) is a Lebanese novelist and academic, a former professor, and a writer. She is the daughter of Alexander and Hala (Maalouf) Saba. She was married to the late Ibrahim Yared and has three ...

(born 1928), novelist, academic * Nur Salman (born 1937), writer

T

Sahar Taha Sahar Taha ( ar, سحر طه; 1957–2018) was an Iraqi musician and journalist living in Lebanon. She co-hosted the Lebanese programme ''Banat Hawa'' on LBC. She was known for playing the oud in both eastern and western music. Early life an ...

(born 1963), musician, singer, journalist *

Nadia Tueni Nadia Mohammad Ali Hamade (July 8, 1935 – June 20, 1983) was a Lebanese Francophone poet, who authored numerous volumes of poetry. Early life Nadia Mohammad Ali Hamadeh was born in Beirut in 1935, to a Lebanese Druze father, Mohammed Ali Hamad ...

(1935–1983), French-language poet

U

* Layla ʽUssayran (1934–2007), novelist

Z

Maya Zankoul Maya Zankoul ( ar, مايا زنقول) (born 30 June 1986 in Hasbaya, Lebanon) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese author, visual artist, blogger and television personality mostly known for her sarcastic cartoons and comics published in her books and ...

(born 1986), artist, cartoonist, best selling novelist *

May Ziadeh May Elias Ziadeh ( ; ar, مي إلياس زيادة, ; 11 February 1886 – 17 October 1941) was a Lebanese people, Lebanese-Palestinians, Palestinian poet, essayist, and translator, who wrote many different works both in Arabic language, Ar ...

(1886–1941), prolific poet, essayist, columnist, translator

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebanese women writers - Lebanese

Writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, plays ...

Writers, women

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See also

References