Contemporary Arab Women Writers and Poets

The book forms an important step in exposing the work of Arab women writers to English readers. Women in the Arab World have been producing significant poetry and fiction for the past 40 years. Most of these works have been written either in Arabic or French.

Accad analyzes the fiction written in the last 40 years by Arab women exposing the confrontation of the Arab woman with her culture. Early novels under the subtitle Identity, Egotism, Nationalism, reflecting the bi-cultural dilemma of women are discussed. From the second phase of the movement short stories and novels written since 1965 are analyzed to show how women’s individual struggle had been blended into the larger social context.

Ghurayyib evaluates the books of Arab women poets living in the Middle East and Europe. She reveals through her translations of representative samples of poetry and her analysis, a literature that is revolutionary and rich in both subject matter and form.

The monograph reveals a dynamic literary movement, one that reflects the struggle and contribution of women.