The Essential Nawal El Saadawi A Reader

by Horst, Adele Newson; El Saadawi, Nawal

• ISBN13: 9781848133358
• ISBN10: 1848133359
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-15
• Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Summary

The writing of Nawal el Saadawi is essential. Her dissident voice has consistently critiqued neo-imperialist international politics coupled with the oppression of women both in her native Egypt and in the world beyond. This book, the first volume in "Zed's Essential Feminists" series, gathers a selection of the whole range of Saadawi's writing together in one volume for the first time. From fiction -- novellas and short stories -- to essays on politics, culture, religion and sex, from extensive interviews to her work as a dramatist, from poetry to selections of her travel writing, this book will be essential to anyone wishing to gain a sense of the total range of Saadawi's work.

Author Biography

Nawal El Saadawi is a renowned Egyptian writer, novelist and activist. She has published over 40 books, which have been translated into over 30 languages.

 

Nawal El Saadawi graduated from the University of Cairo Medical College in 1955, specializing in psychiatry, and practiced as a medical doctor until taking the position of Director General for Public Health Education in the Ministry of Health. In 1972 she lost her job in the Egyptian government because of her banned book: Woman and Sex. In 1982, she established the Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA), the Egyptian Branch of which was outlawed in Egypt in 1991.

 

In 1981 Saadawi was arrested and imprisoned for publicly criticizing President Anwar Sadat's policies. She was released one month after his assassination. Her name appeared on a fundamentalist death list after publishing her novel The Fall of the Imam in Cairo in 1988 and she was obliged to leave her country, to teach in the USA. Other court cases have been raised against both her and her daughter and defeated. In 2008 she defeated a case that demanded the withdrawal of her Egyptian Nationality in response to her play God Resigns at the Summit Meeting.

 

Her most famous novel, Woman at Point Zero was published in Beirut in 1973. It was followed in 1976 by God Dies by the Nile and in 1977 by The Hidden Face of Eve. The Hidden Face of Eve was her first book to be translated to English and was published by Zed Books in 1980. Her most recent novel is Zina: The Stolen Novel (2008).

 

Nawal El Saadawi holds more than ten honorary doctorates from different universities in Europe and the USA. Her many prizes and awards include the Great Minds of the Twentieth Century Prize (2003), the North-South Prizefrom the Council of Europe, the Premi Internacional Catalunya (2004) , and most recently she was the 2007 recipient of The African Literature Association's Fonlon-Nichols Award. Her books are taught in universities across the world.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Work * Author’s Preface * Introduction to the Work -- Adele Newson-Horst * Section I:  Fiction * The Well of Life (two novellas) * Death of the Ex-Minister * She Has No Place in Paradise (collection of short stories) * Section II:  Articles/Essays/Non-Fictional Prose * Introduction to 'The Hidden Face of Eve' * The Seventh International AWSA Conference:  Rationale and the Way Forward, (2006) * Women and the Poor * The Impact of Fanatic Religious Thought:  A Story of a Young Muslim Woman * Preface to the English Edition of 'The Hidden Face of Eve' * Breeding Terror or An Uncivilized Clash of Civilizations * The Three Universal Taboos:  Sex, Religion, and Politics (2007) * Political Islam and Democracy - The Creative Mosquito (2007) * Iran Before the Revolution * Section III: Plays * A Summary of the Play 'Twelve Women in a Cell' * Al Hakem Bi Amr Allah / 'The Ruler in the Name of God' * Section IV: Interviews * Feminism in Egypt:  A Conversation with Nawal Saadawi by Sarah Graham-Brown (March/April 1981) * Fed Up with Limited Thinking: An Interview with Nawal El Saadawi, by Lieven De Cauter (March 2007) * Interview with Nawal El Saadawi, by Sophie Smith (January 2006) * Arab Women and Western Feminism:  An Interview with Nawal El Saadawi, (July 1980) * Conversations with Nawal El Saadawi, by Adele Newson-Horst (January-February 2008) * Section V:  Selections from Breaking Barriers * Introduction  * Transcending Red Lines * The Paper That Was Never Presented at the Conference on Women and Creativity * Poem (October 2002) * This Article Was Never Published * A Story:  The Prostitute and the Writer * Another Word is Possible * Clapping * From the Decision of Al Mouft" * From My Medical Clinic in Giza (poem) * From the Decision of Shiekh Al Azhar (poem) * 3 Poems About Fear * From the Years of Exile * "From the Papers of 5 June 2001 * My Ideal Mother (short story) * 16 Short Poems * 12 Short Poems * 4 Short Poems * About George Bush and Tony Blair * The Century of Women or the Century of Islam? * Section VI:  Homeland * First Trip Outside the Homeland, Part One of 'My Travels' * Court Document by Khaled Ali * Court Document by Hamdi al Assouiti * Nawal El Saadawi:  Case against the Withdrawal of Her Egyptian Nationality Because of the Play God Resigns at the Summit Meeting, by Helmi Salem in Adab wa Nagd Magazine, issue February 2008 * Index