Memphis Stage - Hall 10
Asma Siddiq Award for the First Novel is an annual literary prize launched by Asma Siddiq Al Motawa in 2022, in collaboration with her literary salon "Al Multaqa" in Abu Dhabi. She oversees it independently, with a committee of enlightened readers.
The award aims to encourage Arab novelists to write their first novels, regardless of their age group, in light of the difficulties facing Arab publishers in publishing their debut works. The work is published in Arabic and English in cooperation with Dar Al Adab.
In Collaboration with Al Multaqa Literary Salon.
General Manager at Dar Al Adab (House of Literature) for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution
Shereen Abouelnaga is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Cairo University.
She has published critical and literary articles in cultural and literary journals, with a special focus on gender.
Her Arabic books include: “A Passion of Difference: Readings in Selected Feminist Texts” (1997), “Feminist or Women’s?” (2001), “Nation in the Narration of Arab Women Writers” (2003), and “Intellectuals in the Transitional Phase” (2014).
She is a member of the editorial board of New Perspectives on Theory/Culture/Politics (Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory, Cardiff University) and a jury member (then Chair) of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal Award organized by the AUC.
Aware of her position in the third world, Abouelnaga views the world from the lens of a socialist feminist. She is concerned with reading the manifestations of neo-patriarchy and neo-liberalism that precipitate the rise of the ‘new text’: a powerful sign of resistance.
Author and Translator