Miral al-Tahawy (

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 ...

: ميرال الطحاوي), also known as Miral Mahgoub, is an Egyptian novelist and short story writer. She comes from a conservative

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

background and is regarded as a pioneering literary figure. The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' has described her as "the first novelist to present Egyptian Bedouin life beyond stereotypes and to illustrate the crises of Bedouin women and their urge to break free."

Biography

She was born in a village in the

Sharqia Governorate Sharqia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الشرقية ', , rural: ) is the 3rd most populous of the governorates of Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country, its capital is the city of Zagazig. Overview Bilbeis is the former capital ...

in the eastern Nile delta. Her Bedouin family belongs to the al-Hanadi tribe. Al-Tahawy is the youngest of seven children. She has stated that her progressive-thinking father was responsible for her obtaining an education, in spite of the constraints of traditional Bedouin society especially on women. She gained a BA in

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

from

Zagazig University Zagazig University ( ar, جامعة الزقازيق) is a public university located in the city of Zagazig, Egypt. Notable alumni *Hany Mohammed Diab – actress *Ayman Al-Hendy – academic, scientist *Muntaser Ibrahim – geneticist See also ...

, and then worked as a schoolteacher which allowed her to avoid early marriage. She then continued her education at

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

, moving to the city at the age of 26. This brought her into direct conflict with her family, and she also went through a difficult period of adjustment in the capital. Notwithstanding, she eventually earned a Masters and a PhD from Cairo University, and learnt several languages:

classical Arabic Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and English. Al-Tahawy published her first book, a collection of short stories, in 1995. She was signed up by Hosni Soliman, owner of ''Dar Sharqiyyat'' and publisher of some of the most critically acclaimed

Egyptian literature Egyptian literature traces its beginnings to ancient Egypt and is some of the earliest known literature. Ancient Egyptians were the first to develop written literature, as inscriptions or in collections of papyrus, precursors to the modern boo ...

of the 1990s. Her first novel ''Al-Khibaa'' (''The Tent'') came out in 1996, followed by ''Al-Badhingana al-zarqa'' (''Blue Aubergine'') in 1998 and ''Naquarat al-Zibae'' (''Gazelle Tracks'') in 2008. In 2007, al-Tahawy moved to the United States. She served as an assistant professor in the foreign languages department at

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. She was also the coordinator of their Arabic programme. She is currently an associate professor at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. Al-Tahawy's most recent book, ''Brooklyn Heights'', has met with considerable critical success. It won the 2010

Naguib Mahfouz Medal The Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature is a literary award for Arabic literature.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 ...

. Her work has appeared in two issues of ''

Banipal ''Banipal'' is an independent literary magazine dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Arab literature through translations in English. It was founded in London in 1998 by Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon. The magazine is published three tim ...

'' magazine (2002, 2007). She has also been translated into several languages including English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Urdu, and Hindi. Al-Tahawy has a son.Profile
in the ''New York Times'', January 2012. She also goes by the name of Miral Mahgoub.

Works

* ''The Tent'', translated by

Anthony Calderbank Anthony Calderbank is an English translator of contemporary Arabic literature.Profil ...

* ''Blue Aubergine'', translated by Anthony Calderbank * ''Gazelle Tracks'', translated by Anthony Calderbank * ''

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...

'', translated by

Samah Selim Samah Selim is an Egyptian scholar and translator of Arabic literature. She studied English literature at Barnard College, and obtained her PhD from Columbia University in 1997. At present she is an associate professor at the Department of Africa ...

* ''The Bedouin Sheikh's Daughter''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahawy, Miral 1968 births Living people Egyptian novelists Egyptian women short story writers Egyptian short story writers Egyptian women writers People from Sharqia Governorate Zagazig University alumni Cairo University alumni Appalachian State University faculty Recipients of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature Egyptian women novelists