Najwa Barakat

Najwa Barakat
Najwa Barakat
Born1966 (age 59–60)
Lebanon
OccupationNovelist

Najwa Barakat (Arabic: نجوى بركات; born 1966, in Beirut) is a Lebanese Arab novelist, journalist and film director.[1][2][3][4]

Career

After achieving studies in theater (Beirut Fine Arts Institute) and cinema (French cinema Institution), she moves definitely to Paris where she works as a freelance journalist in a number of Arabic newspapers and magazines, and gathered the materials for several cultural programs produced by Radio France Internationale (RFI) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). She also prepared the first fifteen episodes of the cultural program broadcast at Aljaz,[4] and authored several movie scripts as well as directing several documentaries.

Najwa Barakat has published six novels (five in Arabic and one in French), most of which were published by Dar al-Adab in Beirut. Some of them have obtained awards and were translated into foreign languages, among which “The bus of good people” (1996), which received the "Prize of the best literary creation of the year", by the Lebanese Cultural Forum, Paris, in 1997, and was translated into French in 2002, under the title: "Le bus des gens bien" - Stock Publisher (La Cosmoplite). The novel in French, "La locataire du Pot de fer" (the tenant), published by L’Harmattan Publisher in Paris, played on theater in France, "Winner of the First Prize" at the Amateur Theatre Festival in Amiens, France . She also translated Les Carnets de Camus I – II – III into Arabic, published by Kalima and Dar Al-Adab, Summer 2010.

In 2003, the circuit Middle East- Goethe Institute choose her among several Lebanese writers to represent her country in the MIDAD Project: city's teller.

In 2005, Barakat set up the "Mohtaraf" workshop,[5] which in 2009 became an ongoing series in Beirut for young and aspiring writers. Extensions of the workshop have also been held in Manama and Dubai. Several participants have gone on to publish and win literary awards, including Rasha Atrash, Hilal Chouman, Rana Najjar and Muneera Swar.[6]

Works

  • The Secret Language (loughat al-sirr)[7]
  • Oh, Salaam (Ya-Salâm)[8]
  • The Tenant[9]
  • The Bus of Good People (Bâs el-awâdem)[10]
  • The Life and Passion of Hamad (hayât wa alâm Hamad ibn Siléneh)[11]
  • The Transformer (Al-muhawwel)
  • Mr. N (Mistir nūn)
  • The Absence of Mai (Ghaybat Mayy)

Awards

2015, Philippe Vigreux's French translation of The Language of Secrets was shortlisted for Prix de la Litterature Arabe[6]

2023, Luke Leafgren's English translation Mr. N won the Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and was shortlisted for EBRD Literature Prize[12]

2026, The Absence of Mai was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2008-11-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ "RadioAlt - Musica e Libri - Notizie: La voce degli aguzzini. Parla Najwa Barakat". Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  3. ↑ "Gibert : Achat et vente Livres, CD, DVD, Papeterie. Neuf et occasion". www.gibert.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  4. 1 2 "Il Catalogo". Epoché Edizioni (in Italian). Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "English". 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. 1 2 Lynx Qualey, Marcia (2015-07-16). "Najwa Barakat on Arabic literature: Combating the desertification of Arab culture". Qantara. Retrieved 2026-05-18.
  7. ↑ "The secret language". Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  8. ↑ "Ya-Salâm". Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  9. ↑ Vox. "VoxLatina.com - La meilleure valise business propose des innovations technologiques comme des ports USB, une valise GPS intégrée et un design futuriste". VoxLatina.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  10. ↑ "The bus of good people, (Le bus des gens Bien)". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  11. ↑ "The life and passion of Hamad, (La passion de Hamad)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  12. ↑ "Judges Announce International Prize for Arabic Fiction's 2026 Shortlist". ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY. 2026-02-04. Retrieved 2026-05-18.
  13. ↑ "Shortlist announced for the 2026 International Prize for Arabic Fiction". en.arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 2026-05-18.
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