10 Must-Read Arab Feminist Writers

posted on: Jan 15, 2021

By: Dani Meyer/Arab America Contributing Writer

As quarantine reaches the end of its third month, we are all looking for new things to do and occupy our time with. It might be time to try clicking the “Yes, I’m Still Watching” button on Netflix and try something new! So, if you’re looking for an inspiring book to bump to the top of your reading list, discover some of the Middle Eastern writers who helped champion women’s rights through Arabic literature. While of course not an exhaustive list, these ten feminist writers are a great first step into the wonderful writings of the Middle Eastern feminist movement.

1. Layla Baalbaki

Layla Baalbaki is a pioneer in feminist literature in the Middle East. She has focused on women’s issues in her writing. Layla Baalbaki is the author of “Ana Ahya”, or I Live, which tells the story of a woman’s protest against parental authority and community leaders. This work inspired political uproar, and Baalbaki was charged with obscenity and immorality. Though acquitted, she stopped writing fiction and turned instead to journalism.

2. Assia Djebar

Assia Djebar is an important Algerian author. Her work has focused on Algerian women in the post-colonial context. She has written a number of short stories, compiled in her book Women of Algiers in Their Apartment. She also was elected to the Academie Francaise, an important institution dedicated to preserving the French language, and was the first writer from North Africa to receive this honor.

3. Huda Shaarawi

Huda Shaarawi was a pioneering Egyptian feminist, and founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union. She helped organize protests and demonstrations against the British occupation, and wrote an important memoir where she detailed her time fighting for women’s rights in Egypt.

4. May Ziadeh

May Ziadeh was a key figure in the Arab literary scene who worked both as a journalist and as a fiction writer, focusing on strong female characters. At a time when women were not involved in literature, Ziadeh was a bold voice who questioned the traditional Arab patriarchy. 

5. Fadwah Tuqan

Fadwah Tuqan was a Palestinian poet who is considered to be one of the most important cultural figures of Palestine. In the field of feminist writers, Tuqan’s work stands out because she focused on poetry. Her poems focused on resistance to Israeli occupation of Palestine, and she also wrote a memoir. She also wrote about rejection of traditional male customs.

6. Ghada al-Samman

Ghada al-Samman is one of the important Syrian feminist writers, journalists, and novelists. She has written over 40 works, and her work is controversial. She has written about the links between individual freedom and women’s rights. Her work is often considered “taboo” because she writes about women’s sexuality and political corruption.

7. Nawal el Saadawi

Nawal el Saadawi is an important Egyptian feminist writer. Many of her works center around women in Islam, with a particular focus on female genital mutilation. In her book The Hidden Face of Eve, Saadawi details her circumcision at age six and an important analysis of female oppression in the Arab world. She has received numerous awards for her work, and still fights for women’s rights in Egypt and the Arab world today.

8. Sahar Khalifeh

Sahar Khalifeh is a well-known Palestinian author. She has published nine novels, all of which detail the life of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. She is the founder of the Women’s Affairs Center in Nablus. She has written both fiction and non-fiction novels, and has also written a number of articles about women’s oppression in the Arab world. Notably, she has won the Simone de Beauvoir Prize, awarded to individuals or groups fighting for gender equality.

9. Zainab al-Ghazali

Zainab al-Ghazali was an Egyptian activist and writer. She was a pioneer of Islamic feminism, and founder of the Muslim Women’s Association. She used Islam and the Qu’ran in her work to justify women’s empowerment and equality, and believed that women’s liberation could be achieved through a more intimate understanding of Islam.

10. Fatima Mernissi

Fatima Mernissi was an important Moroccan sociologist and feminist. She was a pioneer in Islamic feminism. She wrote a number of books, including Beyond the Veil and Scheherezade Goes West, which are considered cornerstones in the field of Islamic feminism. 

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