Sania Saleh (1935–1985; Arabic: سنية صالح) was a Syrian writer and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, who wrote and published several poetry collections. Some of her poetry has been translated into English by

Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York. Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...

Biography

Sania Saleh was born in the city of

Masyaf Masyaf ( ar, مصياف ') is a city in northwestern Syria. It is the center of the Masyaf District in the Hama Governorate. As of 2004, Masyaf had a religiously diverse population of approximately 22,000 Ismailis, Alawites and Christians. The ci ...

, in the

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

Governorate, Syria. She met the Syrian writer Mohammad al-Maghut in the 1950s at the house of the Syrian poet

Adunis Ali Ahmad Said Esber (, North Levantine: ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis ( ar, أدونيس ), is a Syrian people, Syrian poet, essayist and translator. He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the ...

in Beirut. In the late 1960s she married Mohammad al-Maghut while she was still a student in the college of literature at the

University of Damascus The University of Damascus ( ar, جَامِعَةُ دِمَشْقَ, ''Jāmi‘atu Dimashq'') is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus and has campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 through ...

, Syria. They had two daughters together and named them Sham and Salafa. In 1985, Sania Saleh died at a hospital in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

after having battled an illness for 10 months. The Egyptian poet

Iman Mersal Iman Mersal ( ar, إيمان مرسال; born November 30, 1966 Mit 'Adlan, Dakahlia, Egypt) is an Egyptian poet. Life Iman Mersal graduated from Mansoura University, and received her MA and PhD from Cairo University. She co-founded ''Bint al-Ard ...

has lamented that fact Saleh's poetry was not more widely known when Mersal was young:

Works

* ''Tight Time'' (1964) (original title: al-Zaman al-Dayeq) * ''Execution Ink'' (1970) (original title: Hebr al-Idam) * ''Zikr al-Ward'' (1988) * ''Dust'' (1982) (original title: al-Ghubar)

Poetry translated into English

* Republished in * *

Awards

* ''

An-Nahar ''An-Nahar'' ( ar, النهار, lit=The Day or The Morning) is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, ''An-Nahar'' was described by the ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' as the newspaper of record f ...

'' newspaper award for best modern poem (1961) * ''

Hawaa ''Hawaa'' (Arabic: ''Eve'') is a weekly women's magazines published in Cairo, Egypt. The magazine is modelled by other women's magazines in the Arab countries. It was Egypt's first women's magazine, founded in 1954. History and profile ''Hawaa'' ...

'' magazine award for short stories (1964) * ''

Al Hasnaa ''Al Hasnaa'' (Arabic: ''Belle'') is an Arabic language women's magazine based in Beirut, Lebanon. The magazine has been in circulation since 1909. History and profile ''Al Hasnaa'' was launched by Georges Nicholas Baz in 1909. Baz was also the ...

'' magazine award for poetry (1967)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleh, Sania 1935 births 1985 deaths Syrian women poets 20th-century Syrian poets 20th-century Syrian women writers People from Hama Governorate