Maia Tabet
Maia Tabet is an Arabic-English literary translator with a background in editing and journalism .[1] Born in Beirut, she was raised in Lebanon, India and England. She studied philosophy and political science at the American University in Beirut, graduating with high honors in 1980.
Tabet is noted for her translation of two novels by Lebanese author Elias Khoury: Little Mountain and White Masks. The former was the first Khoury novel to appear in English translation (in 1989) while the second was nominated for the 2011 Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and won the judges' commendation. She has co-translated, with Michael K. Scott, the controversial Throwing Sparks (Tarmee bi-Sharar), by Saudi writer Abdo Khal. The novel was awarded the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), also known as the Arabic Booker.
She has translated short stories, excerpts of novels and essays by authors as diverse as Elias Khoury, Iman Humaydan, Abbas Beydoun, Najwa Barakat and Alawiyya Subh (Lebanon), as well as Ahmed Fagih (Libya), Habib Selmi (Tunisia), Lua'ayy Hamza Abbas (Iraq) and Ali Muqri (Yemen). Her work has appeared in Banipal magazine and Fikrun wa Fann, a publication of the Goethe Institut in Berlin. An excerpt from White Masks has been published in Words Without Borders (WWB), an international magazine dedicated to promoting the world’s best writing and authors in English translation.
Also a professional cook and caterer, Tabet currently lives in the USA. She has a serious interest in environmental sustainability and a radical commitment to social justice. She is the mother of two daughters. [2]