Razan al-Maghrabi

(Libya) is a well-known novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. She has published five collections of short stories, two novels, and one volume of poetry since 2000; her novel Women of Wind was longlisted for the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Al-Moghrabi is known for her advocacy of women’s rights and freedom of expression, and for her criticism of religious extremism. She has written for Arabic-language newspapers since 1991, edited cultural publications, and produced programmes for Libyan television about cultural issues. Her outspokenness and refusal to wear a veil has led to regular anonymous street harassment and threats to her life. She lives in constant fear of attack, kidnapping, or arrest; in December 2013 armed militia men fired shots at the entrance of her house in Tripoli. In 2012 Al-Maghrabi organised the first-ever conference on women’s rights in that city, and in 2013 she spoke at the UN Commission on the Status of Women about violations of women’s rights taking place in Libya.