videosProfessor Hanaa
by Reem Bassiouney
The Egyptian bestselling novel and the winner of the Sawiris literary award, the biggest award in Egypt, now in the UK
“Deep, original, fascinating…opens new doors to the modern novel in the Arab world and represents Egyptian society with all its complexities, paradoxes and pressing problems.” Gamal Al Ghitany, Novelist and editor in chief of Egypt’s premier literary journal, Akhbar Al Adab
On the eve of her fortieth birthday an Egyptian academic, Professor Hanaa, finds herself alone and unloved. For twenty years she has battled with an impossible love for an unobtainable colleague, and has become an outcast in a society where family and friends mean everything. Single-mindedly intent on changing her life, Hanaa determines she will lose her virginity before her birthday and sets her sights on Khalid, her teaching assistant. An earnest, hardworking and devout young man, Khalid is an unlikely accomplice; however Hanaa’s powers of persuasion know no bounds. What ensues is a humorous and wry commentary on relationships in the Arab world.
About the author
Reem Bassiouney is the author of five highly acclaimed novels in Arabic, all of which have been best-sellers in Egypt. Her second novel, The Pistachio Seller won the best Arabic translated novel award in 2009, and her new novel Professor Hanaa, which appeared in Arabic in 2008, won the first prize in the Sawiris literary award - the biggest award in Egypt.
Watch the author's conference at Georgetown University