Samar al-'Aṭṭār (born 1945) is a

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n writer, novelist and translator. She was born in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and studied at the University of Damascus, earning a BA in Arabic literature and an MA in English, and then received a second MA in English from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

. In 1973, she received a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from the

State University of New York at Binghamton The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...

. She taught Arabic and English in Canada, the United States, Algeria and Germany. She later taught Arabic studies at the University of Sydney. She published her first novel ''Lina: A Portrait of Damascene girl'' in 1982. It was followed by ''The House on Arnus Square'' in 1988. She translated these two novels into English herself. She has also published scholarly essays, textbooks on teaching Arabic and translations of Arabic poetry.

Selected works

References

1945 births Living people Syrian novelists Syrian translators Syrian academics Dalhousie University alumni Academic staff of the University of Sydney Binghamton University alumni Damascus University alumni {{translator-stub