Latifa al-Zayyat

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Latifa al-Zayyat (born 8 August 1923 in Damietta in Egypt, dead 1996[1]) is an Egyptian activist and writer, most famous for her novel The Open Door, which won the inaugural Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.

She earned her Bachelors degree in English in 1946 from Cairo University and earned her PhD at the same university in 1957.[2] She was, with Inji Efflatoun, a founding member in 1945 of the Rabitat Fatayat at jami'a wa al ma' ahid (The League of University and Institutes' Young Women).[3]

Two of al-Zayyat's novels are translated to English, The Owner of the House and The Open Door. The latter, published in 1960, was strikingly modern for its time, both for its use of colloquial Egyptian Arabic and for its depiction of the main character's political and sexual awakening. The novel begins in 1946 and ends in 1956, with the Suez Crisis. It was also turned into a popular film.[1] al-Zayyat also wrote many essays on women and critiques as well as reviews of novels and political happenings.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Johnson-Davis, Denys, ed. (2006). The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction. p. 462. ISBN 1-4000-7976-4. 
  2. ↑ http://www.latifaalzayyat.net/en/biography
  3. ↑ Smith, Bonnie G. (2000). Global feminisms since 1945. Psychology Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-415-18491-5. 
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