Amel Mokhtar

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Amel Mokhtar
Native name
آمال مختار
OccupationNovelist • Journalist • Writer
NationalityTunisian

Amel Mokhtar (Arabic: آمال مختار, romanizedʾĀmāl Mukhtār; born February 4, 1964) is a Tunisian journalist and novelist. She has won several prizes, including the COMAR Special Prize in 2006 for her novel Māystrū (Maestro).

Biography

Mokhtar was born in the town of Maktar in the Siliana Governorate, Tunisia. She completed a bachelor's degree in Natural Science at the University of Tunis and began a career in journalism in 1985.[1]   

Mokhtar published many short stories in Tunisian newspapers and Arab literary magazines. She published her first novel, Nakhab al-hāyat, in 1993 with Dar al-Adab in Beirut; she was the first Tunisian woman to publish with this prestigious press.[2] She then published a short story collection entitled La taʿshiqī hādha al-rajul and her novel al-Kursī al-hazzāz in 2003.[1] She has won several prizes such as the Tunisian ministry of culture's prize for literary innovation in 1994 and the COMAR Special Prize (for "remarkable originality in a novel"[3]) for her novel Māystrū in 2006.[1]

Works

Novels

  • (1993) Nakhab al-hāyat (نخب الحياة (Toasts to life))
  • (2003) al-Kursī al-hazzāz (الكرسي الهزاز (The rocking chair))
  • (2007) Māystrū (مايسترو (Maestro))
  • (2013) Dukhan al-qasr (دخان القصر (Smoke of the palace))[4]

Short story collections

  • (2003) La taʿshiqī hādha al-rajul (لا تعشقي هذا الرجل (Don't love this man))
  • (2004) li-al-Mārid wajha jamīl (للمارد وجه جميل (The monster has a pretty face))[5]
  • (2015) Ḥafal al-ʾashbāḥ (حفل الاشباح (Party of ghosts))[6]

Awards and honours

  • (1988) Taher Hedad prize for short stories[1]
  • (1994) Ministry of Culture prize for creative literature (for her novel Toast to Life)[1]
  • (2006) COMAR Special Prize for Tunisian Novel (for Maestro)[7]
  • (2015) CTAM'ART Prize (2nd Place) for Culture and Creativity (for Party of ghosts)[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Mamelouk, Douja (2010). Redirecting al-nazar: contemporary Tunisian women novelists return the gaze. Doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University.
  2. ^ العياري, رمزي (2018-08-29). "سفراء الثقافة التونسية: آمال مختار تمثّل الأدب التونسي في أسبانيا" [Tunisian cultural ambassadors: Amel Mokhtar represents Tunisian literature in Spain]. الترا تونس Tunis Utra. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  3. ^ "Prix comar d'or Tunisie : Prix littéraire tunisien". comar-d-or.comar.tn. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  4. ^ "رواية "دخان القصر" لآمال مختار:عندما تثور الشخصيات ... وترضخ الكاتبة" [The novel "Palace Smoke" by Amal Mokhtar: When the characters revolt and the writer gives in]. تورس Turess. 2013-04-24. Archived from the original on 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  5. ^ "وللمارد وجه جميل .. الكتابة سبيلاً للشفاء" [The monster has a beautiful face: Writing as a way to heal]. صحفي Sahafi. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  6. ^ الجزيري, محمد الهادي (2015-05-25). "حفل الأشباح" [Party of ghosts] (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  7. ^ درغوث, نبيل (2006-05-07). "الكومار الذهبي في دورته العاشرة" [The tenth annual COMAR d'Or prize]. Diwan al-Arab. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  8. ^ Marzouk, Hamza (2014-11-17). "Ctam'Art : prix remis ce mardi". L'Economiste Maghrébin (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-08.