Najma Idrees

Najma Abdullah Idrees (Arabic: نجمة عبدالله إدريس; born 25 December 1952) is a Kuwaiti poet, columnist and scholar.

Background and career

Idrees was born in 1952 in Kuwait and graduated from Kuwait University in 1976 as an Arabic literature major, she attained her Ph.D in 1987 from London University - School of Oriental and African Studies in which her dissertation topic was on 'The Concept of Death and its Development in Modern Arabic Poetry' (Arabic: مفهوم الموت وتطوره في الشعر العربي الحديث). She taught at a Kuwaiti middle and highschool from 1976 to 1981. Dr. Idrees was a lecturer in Arabic poetry and literature at Kuwait University from 1987 to 2007.

Activities and contributions

Idrees started writing as a poet and researcher since her early university years, and has published most of her early works on Al-Bayan magazine which is issued by the Kuwaiti Writers Association.^[1] She joined the Kuwaiti Writers Association early in her career and found much backing and support from the other members, and with this encouragement she found herself participating in the poetry readings organized by the association on their grounds. She later became editor-in-chief of Al-Bayan magazine in 2010.

She is also a frequent participant in the Cultural Weeks hosted by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature^[2] which takes place annually in different Arab countries. Idrees' first participation with the NCCAL was in Morocco in 1979, during which she was part of Kuwait's cultural delegation. She then took it upon herself to participate in cultural conferences and forums, general lectures and poetry readings throughout the years, both in and out of Kuwait. Places of participation include: Baghdad, Cairo, the United Arab Emirates, Paris, Rabat, Tunis, Algiers, Muscat and Yemen.

Her contributions also include weekly columns for Al-Jarida newspaper,^[3] articles for monthly magazines, and open discussions in the local press and radio interviews.

Honors and awards

• Arab Women Award (Kuwait 2013) ^[4]
• State of Kuwait Prize in the field of literature. (2002) ^[5]

Books

• My Language Fractures.. I Grow (Arabic: تتكسّر لغتي .. أنمو)^[6]

References