Alia Mamdouh, born 1944 in Baghdad, Iraq

Work Experience:

1971 BA in Psychology from the Mustansariya University in Baghdad
1972 – 1973 Main editor of the monthly Majallat Al-Ulum (Magazine of Sciences) in Beirut
1973 – 1975 Editor of Majallat Al-Fikr al-Mu’asir (Magazine of Modern Thought) in Beirut; 12 volumes issued
To 1982 Editor in Chief of the weekly newspaper Al-Rasid in Baghdad (left Iraq 1982)
1980 – 1982 Editor of Majallat Shu’un Filastiniya (Magazine of Palestinian Affairs) in Baghdad; first published in Beirut and then in Tunis
1983 – 1990 In charge of the cultural section of the daily Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh in Rabat, Morocco

She wrote essays and articles for numerous daily and weekly Arab journals as well as for monthly and periodical Arab intellectual and ideological magazines, such as: Mawaqif,
At-Tariq, Al-Mawqif al-Adabi, Al-Karmal, An-Nahar, As-Safir, Al-Quds al-Arabi, Al-Anwar, Al-Arab, Al-Ayam, Al-‘Alam (Moroccan), Al-Hurriya, Al-Hadaf, Abwa and Al-Hayat.
She received various invitations to hold lectures and to participate in colloquiums and
symposiums in different countries, for example: Germany, UK, USA, France, Italy,
Morocco and Tunisia.

Published short stories:
Iftitahiya lil-Dhahk, (Dar al-Awda, Beirut 1973)
Hawamish ila Sayida B. (Dar al-Adab, Beirut 1977)

-Published novels:

Layla wa-l-Dhi’b (Dar al-Hurriya, Baghdad 1981)
Habbat al-Naftaleen (“Naphthalene”), (General Commission for Books, Dar Fusul, Egypt 1986)
Habbat al-Naftaleen (“Naphthalene”), second edition (Dar al-Adab, 2000)
“Naphthalene” has been translated into English, French, Italian, German (by Lenos Publishing House in Basel/Switzerland), Spanish, Catalonian and Dutch under the auspices of the E.U. Commission’s Mediterranean Memory Project with its headquarters in Amsterdam. The first edition of the English version was published by the British publishing house Garnet under the title “Mothballs”. The novel was re-published twice the USA in revised versions by Feminist Press at the City University of New York under the title “Naphthalene” 2005. The novel was also re-published in a revised version by the American University in Cairo in 2005.

The British Broadcasting Corporation has broadcasted excerpts from “Naphthalene” over many years in various languages in programmes dealing with the culture and literature of different people.
This novel is part of the schedules in many international universities, such as Columbia University, the Sorbonne University and the University of Arizona, as well as a topic of many theses and comparative studies.
In 1993 Kitab Musahabat was published by Dar Ukaz, which deals with creative Arab and foreign writings, in Rabat, Morocco. This book presents the author’s personal selection of books she has read and liked.
In 1993 the novel Al-Wala´ (“The Passion”) was published by Dar al-Adab in Beirut and translated into German and French. The French edition was published by Actes Sud under the title “La Passion”.
In 2000 Al-Ghulama was published by Dar al-Saqi in London and Beirut.
In 2003 Al-Mahbubat (“The Loved Ones”) was published by Dar al-Saqi and won the Nagib Mahfouz Prize in 2004 as the best novel of the year. The American University in Cairo will soon publish Al-Mahbubat in English.

Alia Mamdouh has lived in Beirut, Rabat, Cardiff, Brighton, Canada and Paris.