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Dima Wannous (Arabic: ديمة ونوس; born 1982 in Damascus, Syria) is a Syrian literary writer and journalist. She studied French literature at Damascus University and the University of Paris - Sorbonne. She also studied translation in France and has lived in Beirut, where she worked for the newspapers Al-Hayat and As-Safir. She has also worked for broadcast media (radio and TV).

Life and career

Wannous first became known with Tafasil (Details), a short story collection released in 2007, which describes the Syrian society focussing on different characters with "ironic-grotesque overtones" and showing how they bow to power. She published her debut novel Kursi (The Chair) in 2008. In 2009, she was named as one of the Beirut39, a group of 39 Arab writers under the age of 40 chosen through a contest by Banipal magazine and the Hay Festival.

Her 2017 novel Kha'ifoun (The Frightened Ones), describes the life of a young woman in Damascus during the Syrian civil war who receives a manuscript by a former lover who had fled to Germany. The book was shortlisted for the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, and has been translated into English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Turkish, and Norwegian.

Her narrative style has been described as "sober and often painfully precise".

Dima Wannous is the daughter of Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous. She is married to the Syrian journalist Ibrahim Hamidi and both live in London.

See also

• Syrian literature - Literature in the context of war and imprisonment

References

1. internationales literaturfestival berlin
2. "Banipal (UK) Magazine of Modern Arab Literature - Contributors - Dima Wannous". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
3. "Shortlist Announced for International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2018 | International Prize for Arabic Fiction". www.arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
4. "The Frightened Ones by Dima Wannous review – love and loneliness in Syria". The Guardian. 15 April 2020.
5. "Review of the Norwegian translation of Kha'ifoun – An almost claustrophobically intimate novel". Morgenbladet. 29 October 2021.
6. "Book review: Dima Wannousʹ "Die Veraengstigten": Naked despair laid bare | Qantara.de". qantara.de. 2018-10-05. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
7. internationales literaturfestival berlin
8. internationales literaturfestival berlin
9. Bozar

External links

• Dima Wannous short story Sahar, translated from Arabic by Ghenwa Hayek, at Banipal magazine

• 1982 births
• 20th-century novelists
• 20th-century translators
• 20th-century short story writers
• 20th-century Syrian women writers
• 20th-century Syrian writers
• 21st-century Syrian women writers
• 21st-century Syrian writers
• Syrian women novelists
• Syrian novelists
• Syrian women short story writers
• Syrian short story writers
• Writers from Damascus
• Living people
• University of Paris alumni
• Syrian Alawites