Another author who has been invited to Writers Unlimited, the International Literature Festival in Den Haag, running from 16-19 January 2014!
Becoming a praised author, being invited to various literary events, discussed and highlighted at universities around the globe, that is certainly not what was apparent on its way for Miral al-Tahawy; quite the contrary: she was born in Sharqiya to a family who is part of the Bedouin al-Hanadi tribe in the Al Sharqia Governorate, north-east to Cairo in Egypt. An old Bedouin tribe with strong traditional structures in which Miral was not allowed to leave her home without the company of a male family member. But she and her sister were lucky: her father, a progressive Bedouin, acknowledged his daughters' right to education and so they were sent to school. Afterwards Miral went to Zagazig University to gain her B.A. in Arabic literature. This gave her the comfort to become a school teacher supporting herself while other young women of the tribe had to marry.
Though supported at first by her father her 'Bildungsweg' clashed severely with her family when Miral decided to continue her education. She moved to Cairo to succeed her studies earning a Master's degree and finally writing her PhD on 'The Desert Novel in the Arabic Literature' at Cairo University.
And though she might seem to be limited in her literary background, remember that many of the folk narratives origin from the orally transmitted folk lores being told in tents, at fireplaces, at bed times; oral literature that has been passed down from one generation to the next giving those who were taught to read and write the opportunity to collect, transform and introduce it to a wider audience.
When Miral published her first book Riem al-barai al-mostahila (The Exceptional Steppe Antelope), a collection of short stories in 1995, she was actually presenting the oral literature her grandmother had passed on to her children and grandchildren.
Her first novel Al-Khibaa (The Tent) was published in 1996 by Hosni Soliman, owner of Dar Sharqiyyat who had already published several acclaimed Egyptian authors. Two other novels followed: Al-Badhingana al-zarqa (The Blue Aubergine) in 1998 and Naquarat al-Zibae (Gazelle Tracks) in 2002. With her second novel Al-Badhingana al-zarga (The Blue Aubergine), Miral won the state's literary encouragement price in 2000 becoming the first female writer in Egypt to win this prize.
In 2007, Miral decided to move further in her education and became assistant professor at the Appalachian State University of North Carolina in the foreign languages department additionally becoming coordinator of their Arabic programme. At the moment, Miral is assistant professor at Arizona State University.
Obviously, her background does not haunt her but encourages her to write about the tradition, the culture, the myths but also the alienation and pain that is cutting through families and its members being confronted with the modern times and its developments.
Her latest novel, Burukilin Hayts (Brooklyn Heights, 2010), depicts the life of an Egyptian women who immigrated to the United States. With this novel, Miral won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature and was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2011.
And now, Miral will be present at two events at the Literature Festival in Den Haag: on Friday Night Unlimited and Saturday Night Unlimited. Check their website for more information!