Hanaan as-Sjaikh
(Lebanon, 1945) is one of the most acclaimed writers in the contemporary Arab World. She is the author of seven novels, including The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand & Myrrh, Beirut Blues, Only in London, a collection of stories: I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops, and her much praised memoir of her mother’s life The Locust and the Bird. She has written two plays, Dark Afternoon Tea and Paper Husband. Most recently she published One Thousand and One Nights, an adaptation and re-imagining of some of the stories from the legendary Alf Layla Wa Layla - the Arabian Nights, commissioned by the director Tim Supple for the theatre, and performed in Toronto and Edinburgh in 2011. Her work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Hanan al-Shaykh lives in London.
Past events
Forget it!
Writers commenting on the black pages in their country’s history. Hanaan as-Sjaykh wrote about the civil war in Lebanon, Alberto Manguel did the same about the dirty war in Argentina while Hans Goedkoop shed a new light on the Dutch East Indies of the police actions in the late 1940s. David Van Reybrouck talks to them. Musical intermezzo: Ngwatilo Mawiyoo accompanied by Serigne Gueye and Mark Tuinstra. In English
