Najla Said (born 1974,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, United States) is a
Palestinian-American
Palestinian Americans ( ar, فلسطينيو أمريكا) are Americans who are of full or partial Palestinians, Palestinian descent. It is unclear when the first Palestinian immigrants arrived in the United States, but it is believed that the ...
author, actress, playwright, and activist. Through her literary and academic work, Said has confronted racism, stereotyping, social and economic inequality, and among others, the specific challenges that face immigrant and second-generation Americans.
Life
Said grew up on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. Her father was the noted postcolonial scholar and public intellectual
Edward Said
Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''White ...
. She graduated from the
Chapin School
Chapin School is an all-girls independent day school in New York City's Upper East Side neighborhood in Manhattan.
History
Maria Bowen Chapin opened "Miss Chapin's School for Girls and Kindergarten for Boys and Girls" in 1901. The school origin ...
and
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
and trained in acting at The Shakespeare Lab of the
Public Theatre
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...
.
In 2010, Said featured in a one-woman
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
play, ''Palestine.''
In 2013, Said discussed
Arab identity
Arab identity ( ar, الهوية العربية ) is the objective or subjective state of perceiving oneself as an Arab and as relating to being Arab. Like other cultural identities, it relies on a common culture, a traditional lineage, the com ...
politics with ''
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'' magazine and her approaching of the subject in her book ''Looking for Palestine''.
Works
*
*
References
External links
Imeu.netSalon.comPbs.org
21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
Living people
1974 births
Writers from Boston
Princeton University alumni
Actresses from New York City
American stage actresses
American women dramatists and playwrights
Actresses from Boston
Writers from Manhattan
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American women writers
Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni
American writers of Palestinian descent
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