Elliott Colla is an American academic, translator and author specializing in Arabic literature and culture.[1] He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, completing his Bachelor's degree in 1989 and subsequently a PhD in comparative literature in 2000. He is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University.
Colla has written extensively on various aspects of Arabic culture. He is the author of a book entitled Conflicted Antiquities: Egyptology, Egyptomania, Egyptian Modernity (2007). He is highly regarded as a translator of contemporary Arabic literature, and his book-length translations include Gold Dust and The Animists (forthcoming) by Ibrahim al-Koni, Poor by Idris Ali, and The Heron by Ibrahim Aslan. His translation of Gold Dust was runner-up for the Banipal Prize in 2009. His translation of Rabai Madhoun's The Lady from Tel Aviv won a PEN supporting award in November 2011.
Colla also served on the judging panel of the 2010 Banipal Prize (won by Humphrey Davies).
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