Hanan
Al-Shaykh
Years: 2007
Hanan al-Shaykh was born in Lebanon and grew up in Beirut. Her most recent novel, Only in London, was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Hanan was educated in Cairo and wrote her first novel there when she was nineteen before returning to Beirut to work as a journalist for Al-Nahar newspaper Al Hasna Magazine. Hanan writes in Arabic and her work has been translated into 21 languages. She has also written a collection of short stories, I Sweep the Sun Off Rooftops; and two plays, Dark Afternoon Tea and Paper Husband which have been performed at the Hampstead Theatre. Her latest work is a story about the life of her mother, Hikayati. Since 1984 she has lived in London with her family.
Hanan al-Shaykh was born in Lebanon and grew up in Beirut. Her most recent novel, Only in London, was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Hanan was educated in Cairo and wrote her first novel there when she was nineteen before returning to Beirut to work as a journalist for Al-Nahar newspaper Al Hasna Magazine. Hanan writes in Arabic and her work has been translated into 21 languages. She has also written a collection of short stories, I Sweep the Sun Off Rooftops; and two plays, Dark Afternoon Tea and Paper Husband which have been performed at the Hampstead Theatre. Her latest work is a story about the life of her mother, Hikayati. Since 1984 she has lived in London with her family.
