Prominent Arab author reads from works

Hanan al-Shaykh, perhaps the most prominent Arab female author in the world, spoke to students, faculty and area high school teachers Tuesday afternoon at the David Rittenhouse Laboratory. Al-Shaykh, whose novels include The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh and Beirut Blues, is well known for tackling taboo topics of the Arab world. Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Professor Sabah al-Ghandour arranged al-Shaykh's visit to the University. "When I found out that she was coming to Boston, I contacted her in London about speaking here," al-Ghandour said. "I knew how important she is." Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Chairperson Roger Allen said he uses al-Shaykh's The Story of Zahar in his Journeys in Arabic Narrative class and in his Modern Literature in Translation class. "She's the most important female writer in the Arab world," Allen said. "She's a superb novelist and attacks topics with courage." Allen also teaches al-Shaykh's novels in Arabic at the graduate level. Al-Shaykh was born and raised in Beirut. At age 19, she published her first novel in Cairo. She has lived in London since 1984. In her seminar yesterday entitled "My Life as Stories," al-Shaykh recalled how her relationship with her parents influenced her writing. "In the Arab world, when one doesn't come from a solid family, one feels as if they don't owe society anything," she said. "I wrote free of inhibition," she added. "I always felt that I was alone, like I didn't belong to a family. I didn't have any restrictions." Al-Shaykh said she felt as though she lived in a world of contradictions. These contradictions planted the seeds for her controversial novel, The Story of Zahra. "I observed myself living in two worlds," she said. "The more frustrated I was in one world, the more inspired I was in another." Her most recent novel, Beirut Blues, deals with a young woman's despair over the destruction of her native city. "I wrote Beirut Blues because I wanted to capture Beirut before it slipped completely from my mind," al-Shaykh said. "Beirut was like me-- without structure and restrictions." In addition, her novel Women of Sand and Myrrh was voted one of the best books of 1992 by Publishers Weekly. "When I write, I rely on my spontaneity," al-Shaykh said. "I write with my feelings, not my mind." Al-Shaykh added that she focuses on what motivates the human being to act one way or another. She emphasized that writing fiction goes beyond conveying messages. The Middle East Center, Lebanese Cultural Club, Departments of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Women's Studies and the Comparative Literature programs co-sponsored al-Shaykh's presentation. She also held a reading of Beirut Blues Tuesday night in Logan Hall, followed by a book signing session.