Personal Info
- Country of residence: United Arab Emirates
Information
Huzama Habayeb is a Palestinian novelist, storyteller, columnist, translator, and poet who has won multiple awards such as Mahmoud Seif Eddin ِAl-Erani Award for Short Stories and Jerusalem Festival of Youth Innovation in Short Stories. Upon graduating from Kuwait University in 1987 with a BA. degree in English language and Literature, she pursued careers in journalism, teaching, and translation before she eventually started to write professionally as a published author. She is a member of both the Jordanian Writers Association and the Arab Writers Federation.
Habayeb was born on June 4, 1965, in Kuwait, where she also grew up and studied. She obtained her B.A. in English Language and Literature from Kuwait University in 1987. Forced by the Gulf War that erupted a few years after her graduation, Habayeb—along with her family members—moved to Jordan and settled there for years before she relocated to the United Arab Emirates, where she currently lives. Habayeb's writings are majorly fiction, but she does write non-fiction as well. The three main literary genres her bibliography includes are poetry, short stories, and novels.
After four successful short-story collections, Habayeb wrote her first novel, "The Origin of Love" (أصْل الهَوَى,) which was published by AIRP in 2007. The novel provoked a storm of controversy due to the abounding, brazen, sexual content in it; which is presented via both intimation and explicitness. That content caused the novel to be banned in Jordan, where it was printed, upon a directive made by the Department of Press and Publications.[15] On a program broadcast by the Norwegian TV channel NRK2, Habayeb addressed the explicitly sexual and erotic language she occasionally resorts to in her writing emphasizing that "we have to put it the way it is." Throughout her life, Habayeb has written for several daily and periodical newspapers and magazines such as Al Ra'i, Ad-Dustour, Doha Magazine, Al-Qafilah Magazine, and Dubai Al-Thakafiya; a monthly magazine in which she has her own column at present. Habayeb addresses several topics in her nonfictional pieces—politics, literature, social issues, art, anthropology and personal experiences.
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Achievements and Awards
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