Zakaria Tamer also written Zakariya Tamir, is a Syrian short story writer born 2 January 1931 the Al-Basha district of Damascus . He is one of the most widely read and translated short story writers of modern Syrian literature, as well as one of the foremost authors of children’s stories in Arabic. He also worked as a freelance journalist, writing satirical columns in Arabic newspapers.
He was forced to leave school in 1944, at the age of thirteen in order to help provide for his family.He was apprenticed to a blacksmith as a locksmith in a factory in the Al-Basha district of Damascus He continued his education at night school and read voraciously.
He began his literary career in 1957, when he published some stories in Syrian journals. His first manuscript was noticed by Yusuf al-Khal, the poet, critic and editor of the magazine Shi'r ("Poetry") which at the time was acting as midwife to the birth of modern Arabic poetry. The talent that lay behind the poetical prose of these stories, was so unlike anything being written in Arabic at the time, that Al-Khal decided to publish it, this became his first collection of short stories, which was entitled The Neighing of the White Steed.
Following his literary success, which was reflected in the good reception of his first collection, he left his job as a blacksmith and embarked on a new career, as government official, as well as editor of several journals, including the cultural periodicals Al Mawqif al-Adabi, and Al Marifah, and the children’s magazine Usamah.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the Syrian Writers Union in Syria 1968. He was elected member of the executive bureau responsible for the publishing and print, and was vice-president of the Union for four years.
In 1980 he was dismissed from editing the periodical al-Marifah, published by the Syrian Ministry of Culture, as a result of the publication of extracts from Abd al-Rahman al-kawakibi’s (1849–1902) book, Tabai al istibadad (“The Characteristics of Despotism, 1900), in which the author denounced tyranny and called for freedom. As a result of his dismissal, Tamer decided to travel to London, leaving his home country of Syria.
From 1981-1982 he took charge of Al Dustoor magazine as managing editor, he went on to be culture editor of Al Tadhamon magazine (1983–1988) and then became managing editor of Al Naqid magazine (1988–1993), and culture editor at Riyadh Al Rayes Publishing House. He also wrote for various newspapers and periodicals published in London, including Al-Quds Al-Arabi.
In January 2012, Zakaria Tamer decided to venture into Facebook, creating a page titled المهماز (Al-Mihmaz) “The Spur”. The page contains daily articles detailing his continuing literary journey with its political and cultural dimensions. Most recently the focus has been on the Syrian uprising.
In 2023, his collection of stories Sour Grapes was published in English - twenty years after the original Arabic publication
Awards
2001: Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation: Prize of Stories Novels & Drama
2002: Honoured and invested with the Syrian Order of Merit
2009: Awarded the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary prize
2015: Mahmoud Darwish Award for Freedom and Creativity
Most of Zakaria Tamer’s stories deal with people’s inhumanity towards each other, the oppression of the poor by the rich and of the weak by the strong. The political and social problems of his own country, Syria, and of the Arab world, are reflected in the satirical style typical of his writing.
He has published eleven collections of short stories, two collections of satirical articles and numerous children’s books. His works have been translated into several languages, with three collections in English, Tigers on the Tenth Day, Breaking Knees and Sour Grapes.
Published works
Short story collections
The Neighing of the White Steed(1960) صهيل الجواد الابيض Ṣahīl al-Jawād al-Abyaḍ
Spring In The Ashes, (1963) ربيع في الرماد Rabīʿ fī l-Ramād
The Thunder, (1970) الرعد Ar-Raʿd
Damascus Fire, (1973) دمشق الحرائق Dimashq al-Ḥarāʼiq
Tigers on the Tenth Day, (1978) النمور في اليوم العاشر al-Numūr fī l-Yawm al-ʿĀshir
Noah's Summons, (1994),نداء نوح Nidāʼ Nūḥ
We Shall Laugh, (1998) سنضحك Sanaḍḥak
IF!, (1998) أف!
Sour Grapes, (2000) الحصرم Al-Ḥiṣrim
Breaking Knees, (2002) تكسير ركب Taksīr Rukab
The Hedgehog, (2005) القنفذ Al-Qunfuḏ
The Regret of Horse, (2018)ندم الحصان Nadamul Hisan
Collections of satirical articles
Glories, Arabs, Glories, (1986) Amjad Ya Arab amjad
The Victim's Satire Of His Killer, (2003)
Other collections
Why the River Fell Silent, (1973) لماذا سكت النهر Limāḏā Sakata al-Nahr
The Flower Spoke to the Bird, (1978) قالت الوردة للسنونو Qālit al-Warda Lilsununu
In translation
Tigers On The Tenth Day and Other Stories, (1985) translated by Denys Johnson-Davies, Quartet Books
Breaking Knees, (2008), translated by Ibrahim Muhawi (Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing)
The Hedgehog: A Modern Arabic Novella, (2009) translated by Brian O'Rourke, Denys Johnson-Davies, American University Cairo Press, ISBN 9789774162558
The Children Laugh, (2017), translated to Hebrew by Alon Fragman, published by Maktoob Series.
Sour Grapes, (2023) translated by Alessandro Columbu and Mireia Costa Capallera, Syracuse University Press
