Raja'a Alem
Encyclopedia
Raja'a Alem (born in Mecca
in 1970) is a Saudi Arabia
n novelist from Mecca/Hejaz.
She received her BA in English Literature
and works as a tutor for the Center for Training Kindergarten Teachers in Jeddah
, Saudi Arabia. She is an active writer of prose and her style—a blend of modern style with traditional themes is unique among Saudi authors. Alem has published several plays, three novels, and a collection of short stories, Nahr al-Hayawan (The Animal River, 1994). She is the recipient of several prestigious international prizes.
Her short story "One Thousand Braids and a Governess" has been translated into English and published in "Voices of Change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women writers" edited by Abubaker Bagader, Ava M. Heinrichsdorff, Deborah Akers
Her birth in Mecca
and her family background is highly influential to her work and outlook. She has reflected on her relationship with the now overhauled and renovated city Mecca
, saying "I belong to a stream of thinking rather than a piece of land, to a current that runs everywhere. My country is all over the globe...Now, in Mecca, I felt I belonged, not to the ceremonies performed by thousands of bodies but to a spirit that was reaching out to me alone. I somehow felt that I was seeing beyond things, past the glare of the full moon, feeling the elation you experience when you reach the power behind things. Or maybe it was about the way the moonlight mingled with the longings of the pilgrims." McDonough, Tom http://bombsite.com/issues/103/articles/3100 “Raja Alem” in BOMB Magazine
Spring 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2011 Some of her works in Arabic have been banned. Writing in English was a significant decision for Alem. She has said:
Spring 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2011
Among her significant work: Khatam, Sayidi Wehadana, Masra Ya Rageeb, Hubba, The Silk Road, and many more novels.
She divides her time between Jeddah and Paris.
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
in 1970) is a Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
n novelist from Mecca/Hejaz.
She received her BA in English Literature
and works as a tutor for the Center for Training Kindergarten Teachers in Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, Saudi Arabia. She is an active writer of prose and her style—a blend of modern style with traditional themes is unique among Saudi authors. Alem has published several plays, three novels, and a collection of short stories, Nahr al-Hayawan (The Animal River, 1994). She is the recipient of several prestigious international prizes.
Her short story "One Thousand Braids and a Governess" has been translated into English and published in "Voices of Change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women writers" edited by Abubaker Bagader, Ava M. Heinrichsdorff, Deborah Akers
Deborah Akers
Deborah S. Akers Ph.D., JD. is an assistant professor of Cultural Applied Anthropology at Miami University, Ohio.She is both an author and researcher and currently has a segment with Talk Radio News, DC where she discuss her research findings on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and meditation and...
Her birth in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
and her family background is highly influential to her work and outlook. She has reflected on her relationship with the now overhauled and renovated city Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, saying "I belong to a stream of thinking rather than a piece of land, to a current that runs everywhere. My country is all over the globe...Now, in Mecca, I felt I belonged, not to the ceremonies performed by thousands of bodies but to a spirit that was reaching out to me alone. I somehow felt that I was seeing beyond things, past the glare of the full moon, feeling the elation you experience when you reach the power behind things. Or maybe it was about the way the moonlight mingled with the longings of the pilgrims." McDonough, Tom http://bombsite.com/issues/103/articles/3100 “Raja Alem” in BOMB Magazine
Bomb Magazine
BOMB is a quarterly magazine edited by artists and writers. It is composed, primarily, of interviews between creative people working in a variety of disciplines — visual art, literature, music, film, theater and architecture....
Spring 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2011 Some of her works in Arabic have been banned. Writing in English was a significant decision for Alem. She has said:
"The fact is that my people are drifting away from their own culture, and many of them no longer have a clue about what I’m writing about. So I find myself looking for new ways to communicate, for other languages, and English was the first one that came to hand...'Coming out' in another language is a way of shedding inhibitions. All the things that made me feel ashamed lost their morbid grip on me and became acceptable. I’ve never read any of my books published in Arabic; it makes me feel completely naked. Reading them in another language, though, I feel alive in a poetic way."McDonough, Tom http://bombsite.com/issues/103/articles/3100 “Raja Alem” in BOMB Magazine
Bomb Magazine
BOMB is a quarterly magazine edited by artists and writers. It is composed, primarily, of interviews between creative people working in a variety of disciplines — visual art, literature, music, film, theater and architecture....
Spring 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2011
Among her significant work: Khatam, Sayidi Wehadana, Masra Ya Rageeb, Hubba, The Silk Road, and many more novels.
She divides her time between Jeddah and Paris.