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{{short description|Saudi Arabian novelist (born 1970)}}
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[[File:Mohammed Achaari and Rajaa Alem, joint winners of the 2011 Arabic Booker Prize.jpg|thumb|Raja'a Alem with [[Mohammed Achaari]] at the 2011 London Literature Festival]]
{{Infobox writer

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| name = Raja'a Alem
'''Raja'a Alem''' ([[Arabic]]:'''رجاء عالم''') (born in [[Mecca]] in 1970) is a [[Saudi Arabia]]n novelist from Mecca/Hejaz.
| embed =
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| image = Mohammed Achaari and Rajaa Alem, joint winners of the 2011 Arabic Booker Prize.jpg
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| caption =[[Mohammed Achaari]] with Raja'a Alem at the 2011 London Literature Festival
| native_name = رجاء عالم
| native_name_lang = Arabic
| pseudonym =
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| birth_date = 1970
| birth_place = Mecca
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|2010|6|2|1944|12|31}} -->
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'''Raja'a Alem''' ({{langx|ar|رجاء عالم}}; born in 1956) is a Saudi Arabian novelist from [[Mecca]]/[[Hejaz]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2019-04-24 |archive-date=1 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201183111/http://www.kataranovels.com:80/novelist/رجاء-عالم/ |language=ar |title=رجاء عالم {{!}} جائزة كتارا للرواية العربية |url=http://www.kataranovels.com/novelist/%d8%b1%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85/ |website=جائزة كتارا للرواية العربية}}<!-- auto-translated from Arabic by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name="المسيرة الإلكتروني: طوق الحمامة (مقتطفات من الرواية)">{{cite web|access-date=2021-09-28 |archive-date=2020-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025110044/http://www.al-maseera.com/2012/08/Rajaa-Alem.html |language=ar |title=رجاء عالم |url=http://www.al-maseera.com/2012/08/Rajaa-Alem.html |website=المسيرة الإلكتروني: طوق الحمامة (مقتطفات من الرواية)}}<!-- auto-translated from Arabic by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> She studied English Literature at [[King Abdulaziz University]] in [[Jeddah]] in 1980. She began her writing career on the "Letters and Ideas" page in [[Al Riyadh (newspaper)|Al-Riyadh newspaper]], as well as in the newspaper's weekly supplement.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2019-04-24 |archive-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424074633/https://ar.qantara.de/content/hwr-m-lktb-lswdy-rj-lm-db-mkyw-fy-lmnyrubwa-jml-whd-nsht-mq-lrwbt |language=ar |title=حوار مع الكاتبة السعودية رجاء عالم: أدب مكيّ في ألمانيا.."رُبَّ جملة واحدة أنشأت أعمق الروابط" - Qantara.de |url=https://ar.qantara.de/content/hwr-m-lktb-lswdy-rj-lm-db-mkyw-fy-lmnyrubwa-jml-whd-nsht-mq-lrwbt |website=Qantara.de موقع قنطرة للحوار مع العالم الإسلامي ـ}}<!-- auto-translated from Arabic by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> She is credited with documenting the Meccan/Hejazi environment in her novels. Her novels are distinguished by a symbolic [[Sufism|Sufi]]/[[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] narrative with broad cosmic visions. Some of her works have been translated into English and Spanish.<ref name="بوزيدي 2018 pp. 166–184">{{cite journal|access-date=2021-09-28 |archive-date=2021-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928004302/https://www.asjp.cerist.dz/en/article/58947 |date=2018-06-18 |first=هلاء |issn=2602-716X |issue=2 |journal=مجلة علوم اللغة العربية وآدابها |language=ar |last=بوزيدي |pages=166–184 |title=تجليّات الحضور الذكوري في الخطاب الروائي النسوي - خاتم لـ : رجاء عالم أنموذجًا – |url=https://www.asjp.cerist.dz/en/article/58947 |volume=10}}<!-- auto-translated from Arabic by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name="alarabiya.net 2020">{{cite web|access-date=2021-09-28 |archive-date=2021-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928013342/https://www.alarabiya.net/authors/رجاء-عالم |date=2020-06-21 |language=ar |title=رجاء عالم |url=https://www.alarabiya.net/authors/%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85 |website=alarabiya.net}}<!-- auto-translated from Arabic by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name="ولها وجوه أخرى">{{cite web|access-date=2021-09-28 |archive-date=2021-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117215603/https://wlahawogohokhra.com/9935/رجاء-عالم-المتوّجة-الأولى-والوحيدة-بـ/ |language=ar |title=رجاء عالم.. المتوّجة الأولى والوحيدة بــ«بوكر» العربية |url=https://wlahawogohokhra.com/9935/%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%91%D8%AC%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%80/ |website=ولها وجوه أخرى}}<!-- auto-translated from Arabic by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>


== Life ==
She received her BA in English Literature<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/arabian_style/index.html }} {{Dead link|date=August 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
Alem was born in [[Mecca]]. She received her [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in English Literature<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/arabian_style/index.html |title=Writing Arabian Style|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125161317/http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/arabian_style/index.html |archivedate=January 25, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title= 9th International Literature Festival, Berlin
|title= 9th International Literature Festival, Berlin
|year=2009
|year=2009
|url= http://www.literaturfestival.com/bios1_3_6_1949.html
|url= http://www.literaturfestival.com/bios1_3_6_1949.html
|accessdate=2009-11-30}}</ref>
|accessdate=2009-11-30}}</ref>
and works as a tutor for the Center for Training Kindergarten Teachers in [[Jeddah]], Saudi Arabia. She is an active writer of prose and her style—a blend of modern style with traditional themes is unique among Saudi authors. Alem has published several plays, three novels, and a collection of short stories, Nahr al-Hayawan (The Animal River, 1994). She is the recipient of several prestigious international prizes.
and works as a tutor for the Center for Training Kindergarten Teachers in [[Jeddah]], [[Saudi Arabia]]. She is an active writer of prose and her style, a blend of modern style with traditional themes, is unique among Saudi authors. Alem has published several plays, three novels, and a collection of short stories, Nahr al-Hayawan (The Animal River, 1994). She is the recipient of several prestigious international prizes.
Her short story "One Thousand Braids and a Governess" has been translated into English and published in "Voices of Change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women writers" edited by Abubaker Bagader, Ava M. Heinrichsdorff, [[Deborah Akers]] Her birth in [[Mecca]] and her family background is highly influential to her work and outlook. She has reflected on her relationship with the now overhauled and renovated city [[Mecca]], saying "I belong to a stream of thinking rather than a piece of land, to a current that runs everywhere. My country is all over the globe...Now, in Mecca, I felt I belonged, not to the ceremonies performed by thousands of bodies but to a spirit that was reaching out to me alone. I somehow felt that I was seeing beyond things, past the glare of the full moon, feeling the elation you experience when you reach the power behind things. Or maybe it was about the way the moonlight mingled with the longings of the pilgrims."<ref name="McDonough"/> Some of her works in Arabic have been banned. Writing in English was a significant decision for Alem. She has said: <blockquote>"The fact is that my people are drifting away from their own culture, and many of them no longer have a clue about what I’m writing about. So I find myself looking for new ways to communicate, for other languages, and English was the first one that came to hand...'Coming out' in another language is a way of shedding inhibitions. All the things that made me feel ashamed lost their morbid grip on me and became acceptable. I’ve never read any of my books published in Arabic; it makes me feel completely naked. Reading them in another language, though, I feel alive in a poetic way."</blockquote><ref name=McDonough>McDonough, Tom http://bombsite.com/issues/103/articles/3100 “Raja Alem” in [[BOMB Magazine]] Spring 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2011</ref>
Her short story "One Thousand Braids and a Governess" has been translated into [[English language|English]] and published in ''Voices of Change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women writers''. Her birth in [[Mecca]] and her family background is highly influential to her work and outlook. She has reflected on her relationship with the now overhauled and renovated city of Mecca, saying:
{{blockquote|I belong to a stream of thinking rather than a piece of land, to a current that runs everywhere. My country is all over the globe...Now, in Mecca, I felt I belonged, not to the ceremonies performed by thousands of bodies but to a spirit that was reaching out to me alone. I somehow felt that I was seeing beyond things, past the glare of the full moon, feeling the elation you experience when you reach the power behind things. Or maybe it was about the way the moonlight mingled with the longings of the pilgrims.<ref name="McDonough"/>}}
Some of her works in Arabic have been banned. Writing in English was a significant decision for Alem. She has said: <blockquote>"The fact is that my people are drifting away from their own culture, and many of them no longer have a clue about what I'm writing about. So I find myself looking for new ways to communicate, for other languages, and English was the first one that came to hand...'Coming out' in another language is a way of shedding inhibitions. All the things that made me feel ashamed lost their morbid grip on me and became acceptable. I’ve never read any of my books published in Arabic; it makes me feel completely naked. Reading them in another language, though, I feel alive in a poetic way."<ref name=McDonough>{{cite web|last=McDonough|first= Tom |url=http://bombsite.com/issues/103/articles/3100 |title=Raja Alem|publisher= [[BOMB Magazine]] Spring 2008 |accessdate= August 10, 2011}}</ref></blockquote>


Among her significant work: Khatam, Sayidi Wehadana, Masra Ya Rageeb, Hubba, The Silk Road, and many more novels.
Among her significant works are the books ''Khatam, Sayidi Wehadana, Masra Ya Rageeb, Hubba, The Silk Road,'' and other novels. She divides her time between Jeddah and Paris.


== 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction ==
She divides her time between Jeddah and Paris.
Alem was joint winner of the 2011 [[International Prize for Arabic Fiction]] for her novel ''[[The Dove's Necklace|The Doves' Necklace]]''. This renowned prize is administered by the [[Booker Prize]] Foundation in London, and is funded by [[Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism|Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi (DCT)]]. She shared the prize with the Moroccan writer [[Mohammed Achaari]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Raja Alem {{!}} International Prize for Arabic Fiction |url=https://www.arabicfiction.org/en/Raja-Alem |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=www.arabicfiction.org}}</ref>


==2011 Arabic Booker Prize==
== Works ==
Alem was announced joint winner of the 2011 [[Arabic Booker Prize]] for her novel ''The Doves' Necklace''. She shared the prize with the Moroccan writer [[Mohammed Achaari]].


* ثقوب في الظهر (Thouqoub fi el-dahr) Beyrouth: Dar al Adab, 2006. {{OCLC|822666376}}
⚫
==References==
* ستر (Sitr) Beyrouth : Dar al Adab, 2006. {{OCLC|822666398}}
* الرقص على سن الشوكة (Al-raqs ala sinn al-shouka) Beyrouth: Dar al Adab, 2006. {{OCLC|822652972}}
* طريق الحرير (Tariq al-harir) Beyrouth : Dar al Adab, 2006. {{OCLC|822666564}}
* خاتم (Khatim) Beyrouth : Dar al-bayda, 2006. {{OCLC|822666506}}

== Venice Biennale ==
In 2011, Alem represented Saudi Arabia with her sister, the artist [[Shadia Alem]] at the Venice Biennale.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cumming|first=Laura|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jun/05/venice-biennale-review-laura-cumming|title=The 54th Venice biennale – review|date=2011-06-04|work=The Observer|access-date=2020-03-26|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> This was the first time that Saudi Arabia had entered the festival.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bharadwaj|first=Vinita|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/world/middleeast/contemporary-artists-rock-the-boat-gently-in-saudi-arabia.html|title=Contemporary Artists Rock the Boat Gently in Saudi Arabia|date=2012-01-18|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Their work was entitled ''The Black Arch'' and referenced travel narratives, Hajj and the representation of women.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/10554/1/venice-biennale-2011-saudi-arabias-the-black-arch|title=Venice Biennale 2011: Saudi Arabia's The Black Arch|last=Dazed|date=2011-06-08|website=Dazed|language=en|access-date=2020-03-26}}</ref>

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== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


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{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Persondata
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| NAME = Alem, Raja'a
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Novelist
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| DATE OF BIRTH = 1970
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
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}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alem, Raja'a}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alem, Raja'a}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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[[Category:Saudi Arabian women writers]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian novelists]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian novelists]]
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:Women novelists]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian women novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Saudi Arabian writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century Saudi Arabian women writers]]
[[Category:International Prize for Arabic Fiction winners]]

Latest revision as of 14:38, 30 October 2024

Raja'a Alem
Mohammed Achaari with Raja'a Alem at the 2011 London Literature Festival
Mohammed Achaari with Raja'a Alem at the 2011 London Literature Festival
Native name
رجاء عالم
Born1970
Mecca
NationalitySaudi Arabian
Genrenovel
Notable awards2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction

Raja'a Alem (Arabic: رجاء عالم; born in 1956) is a Saudi Arabian novelist from Mecca/Hejaz.[1][2] She studied English Literature at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah in 1980. She began her writing career on the "Letters and Ideas" page in Al-Riyadh newspaper, as well as in the newspaper's weekly supplement.[3] She is credited with documenting the Meccan/Hejazi environment in her novels. Her novels are distinguished by a symbolic Sufi/Gnostic narrative with broad cosmic visions. Some of her works have been translated into English and Spanish.[4][5][6]

Life

[edit]

Alem was born in Mecca. She received her BA in English Literature[7][8] and works as a tutor for the Center for Training Kindergarten Teachers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She is an active writer of prose and her style, a blend of modern style with traditional themes, is unique among Saudi authors. Alem has published several plays, three novels, and a collection of short stories, Nahr al-Hayawan (The Animal River, 1994). She is the recipient of several prestigious international prizes.

Her short story "One Thousand Braids and a Governess" has been translated into English and published in Voices of Change: short stories by Saudi Arabian women writers. Her birth in Mecca and her family background is highly influential to her work and outlook. She has reflected on her relationship with the now overhauled and renovated city of Mecca, saying:

I belong to a stream of thinking rather than a piece of land, to a current that runs everywhere. My country is all over the globe...Now, in Mecca, I felt I belonged, not to the ceremonies performed by thousands of bodies but to a spirit that was reaching out to me alone. I somehow felt that I was seeing beyond things, past the glare of the full moon, feeling the elation you experience when you reach the power behind things. Or maybe it was about the way the moonlight mingled with the longings of the pilgrims.[9]

Some of her works in Arabic have been banned. Writing in English was a significant decision for Alem. She has said:

"The fact is that my people are drifting away from their own culture, and many of them no longer have a clue about what I'm writing about. So I find myself looking for new ways to communicate, for other languages, and English was the first one that came to hand...'Coming out' in another language is a way of shedding inhibitions. All the things that made me feel ashamed lost their morbid grip on me and became acceptable. I’ve never read any of my books published in Arabic; it makes me feel completely naked. Reading them in another language, though, I feel alive in a poetic way."[9]

Among her significant works are the books Khatam, Sayidi Wehadana, Masra Ya Rageeb, Hubba, The Silk Road, and other novels. She divides her time between Jeddah and Paris.

2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction

[edit]

Alem was joint winner of the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for her novel The Doves' Necklace. This renowned prize is administered by the Booker Prize Foundation in London, and is funded by Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi (DCT). She shared the prize with the Moroccan writer Mohammed Achaari.[10]

Works

[edit]
  • ثقوب في الظهر (Thouqoub fi el-dahr) Beyrouth: Dar al Adab, 2006. OCLC 822666376
  • ستر (Sitr) Beyrouth : Dar al Adab, 2006. OCLC 822666398
  • الرقص على سن الشوكة (Al-raqs ala sinn al-shouka) Beyrouth: Dar al Adab, 2006. OCLC 822652972
  • طريق الحرير (Tariq al-harir) Beyrouth : Dar al Adab, 2006. OCLC 822666564
  • خاتم (Khatim) Beyrouth : Dar al-bayda, 2006. OCLC 822666506

Venice Biennale

[edit]

In 2011, Alem represented Saudi Arabia with her sister, the artist Shadia Alem at the Venice Biennale.[11] This was the first time that Saudi Arabia had entered the festival.[12] Their work was entitled The Black Arch and referenced travel narratives, Hajj and the representation of women.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "رجاء عالم | جائزة كتارا للرواية العربية". جائزة كتارا للرواية العربية (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  2. ^ "رجاء عالم". المسيرة الإلكتروني: طوق الحمامة (مقتطفات من الرواية) (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  3. ^ "حوار مع الكاتبة السعودية رجاء عالم: أدب مكيّ في ألمانيا.."رُبَّ جملة واحدة أنشأت أعمق الروابط" - Qantara.de". Qantara.de موقع قنطرة للحوار مع العالم الإسلامي ـ (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  4. ^ بوزيدي, هلاء (2018-06-18). "تجليّات الحضور الذكوري في الخطاب الروائي النسوي - خاتم لـ : رجاء عالم أنموذجًا –". مجلة علوم اللغة العربية وآدابها (in Arabic). 10 (2): 166–184. ISSN 2602-716X. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  5. ^ "رجاء عالم". alarabiya.net (in Arabic). 2020-06-21. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  6. ^ "رجاء عالم.. المتوّجة الأولى والوحيدة بــ«بوكر» العربية". ولها وجوه أخرى (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  7. ^ "Writing Arabian Style". Archived from the original on January 25, 2007.
  8. ^ "9th International Literature Festival, Berlin". 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  9. ^ a b McDonough, Tom. "Raja Alem". BOMB Magazine Spring 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  10. ^ "Raja Alem | International Prize for Arabic Fiction". www.arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  11. ^ Cumming, Laura (2011-06-04). "The 54th Venice biennale – review". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  12. ^ Bharadwaj, Vinita (2012-01-18). "Contemporary Artists Rock the Boat Gently in Saudi Arabia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  13. ^ Dazed (2011-06-08). "Venice Biennale 2011: Saudi Arabia's The Black Arch". Dazed. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
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