Egyptian author. Born in Cairo, Egypt. Now dividing time between London and Cairo. She has two sons Omar Robert Hamilton and Ismail Richard Hamilton.
She taught in Cairo University as well as the University of King Seoud and worked as editing counselor at Castle Publishing for six years.
Ahdaf's latest book is her memoir of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Cairo: A City Transformed.
She is the author of The Map of Love which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1999.
Ms Soueif is also a political and cultural commentator; she writes regularly for the Guardian in London.
Between 2011 and 2015 she had a weekly column for the Arabic-language national daily, al-Shorouk in Cairo.
A collection of her essays, Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground, was published in 2004.
Her translation (from Arabic into English) of Mourid Barghouti's I Saw Ramallah also came out in 2004.
She lives in London and Cairo.
PUBLICATIONS:
2014 Cairo, A City Transformed, Bloomsbury, London and Knopf, New York
(A new edition of Cairo: My City, Our Revolution with additional material)
2012: Cairo: My City, Our Revolution (a personal account of the Egyptian Revolution) Bloomsbury: London
2011: Reflections on Islamic Art (Editor), Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing: Doha
2007: I Think of You, (stories from "Aisha" and "Sandpiper"), Bloomsbury: London
2004: Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground, (Essays), Bloomsbury: London
1999: The Map of Love, (a novel), Bloomsbury, London
1996: Zinat al-Hayh wa Qisas Ukhra, (short stories), Dar al-Hilal, Cairo
1996: Sandpiper, (short stories), Bloomsbury: London
1992: In the Eye of the Sun, (a novel), Bloomsbury: London
1983: Aisha, (short stories), Jonathan Cape: London (reissued by Bloomsbury in 2000)
JOURNALISM and MEDIA:
Soueif writes in both English and Arabic and has written various essays and reviews published in: Akhbar al-Adab, al-Arabi, Cosmopolitan, Granta, al-Hilal, al-Katibah, The London Magazine, The London Review of Books, New Society, Nisf al-Dunya, The Observer, Sabah al-Kheir, The Sunday Telegraph, Times Literary Supplement, Washington Post and others..
She has made many programmes for Arab, American and British TV and Radio Stations.
TRANSLATION:
2000: I Saw Ramallah, a memoir by Mourid al-Barghouti, AUC Press, Cairo, Random House,
New York and Bloomsbury, UK.
1998: In Deepest Night, a play for al-Warsha Theatre Group perfomed at the Kennedy Centre,
Washington DC.
BOARDS and MEMBERSHIPS:
Founder and Chair: Engaged Events (UK) PalFest
Patron: Palestine Solidarity Campaign (UK)
Patron: The Caine Prize for African Literature (UK)
Trustee: the British Museum (UK)
Trustee: The International Prize for Arab Fiction (UK)
Board: The Edward W Said Annual Lecture (UK)
Board: The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (Egypt)
Board: Mosireen Collective (Egypt)
Fellow: Royal Society of Literature (UK)
Member: Amnesty International (UK)
Member: Committee for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (UK)
Member: Egyptian Writers' Union (EGYPT)
Member: Egyptian-British Society (UK)
AWARDS and FELLOWSHIPS:
Winner of Cavafy Award, 2011 (Ahram Online)
Winner of the first Mahmoud Darwish award, 2010.
Honorary DLitt (Exeter University) 2008.
Honorary DLitt (London Metropolitan University) 2004.
Honorary DLitt (Lancaster University) 2004
Lannan Foundation (USA) 2002.
Bogliasco Foundation (Italy) 2002.
EDUCATION
School: Cairo and London
BA — English Literature, Cairo University, 1971
MA — English and American Literature, The American University in Cairo, 1973
PhD — Literary Stylistics, University of Lancaster, 1978
