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Iman Mersal

イマン・メルサル

Iman Mersal

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1966-11-30 （Mit 'Adlan, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt）
Nationality
Egypt
Languages
Arabic, English
Residence History
Mit 'Adlan (Egypt) → Cairo (Egypt) → Boston, USA → Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Career

Occupations
Poet, Writer, Translator, Academic
Active Years
1986-
Affiliations
University of Alberta (Associate Professor)

Education

Mansoura University
Country: Egypt
Undergraduate degree (details not specified)
Cairo University
Degree: MA, PhD
Country: Egypt
Received MA and PhD (years not specified)

Awards

Sheikh Zayed Book Award (Literature)
2021
Work: Traces of Enayat
Category: Literature
Organization: Sheikh Zayed Book Award
Result: Winner
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (Biography)
2024
Work: Traces of Enayat
Category: Biography
Organization: James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Result: Winner
National Translation Award
2023
Work: The Threshold: Poems
Category: Translation
Organization: National Translation Award
Result: Winner
Griffin Poetry Prize
2023
Work: The Threshold: Poems
Category: Poetry
Organization: Griffin Poetry Prize
Result: Shortlisted
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center Fellowship (NYPL)
2024
Category: Fellowship
Organization: New York Public Library
Result: Awarded
Albert Camus Chair (IMéRA/AMIDEX-AMU)
2021
Category: Chair
Organization: IMéRA / AMIDEX - Aix-Marseille University
Result: Appointed
Canada Council for the Arts Fellowship (Creative Writing)
2017
Category: Fellowship
Organization: Canada Council for the Arts
Result: Fellow (2017–2018)
EUME Scholar (Forum Transregionale Studien)
2012
Category: Scholar
Organization: Forum Transregionale Studien / EUME
Result: Selected
Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize
2024
Work: Traces of Enayat
Category: Translation
Organization: Banipal Trust for Arab Literature
Result: Shortlisted

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Traces of Enayat

2019 Non-fiction / Biography

A study tracing the life and traces of the writer Enayat al-Zayyat, examining memory, photography and women's experiences through personal recollection and historical context.

MemoryWomen's historyPhotographyLoss and remembrance
Translations
  • English translation: Traces of Enayat

The Threshold: Poems

Poetry

A collection of poems exploring memory, time and sense of place through lyrical images; the English translation received international recognition.

MemoryPlace and homeSelf and other
Translations
  • English translation: translated by Robyn Creswell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022)

How to Mend: On Motherhood and its Ghosts

2016 Essay / Memoir

An essayistic exploration of motherhood, memory and loss that moves between personal archive and theoretical reflection, using photographs, dreams and writing.

MotherhoodMemoryPhotography and identity
Translations
  • English translation: translated by Robin Moger (Sternberg Press / Transit Books)

Bibliography

  • 1990: Ittisafat (Characterizations)
  • 1995: Mamarr mu'tim yasluh lita'allum al-raqs (A Dark Alley Suitable for Learning to Dance)
  • 1997: al-Mashy Atwal Waqt Mumkin (Walking As Long As Possible)
  • 2004: Mamarr mu'tim yasluh lita'allum al-raqs (2nd edition)
  • 2006: Jughrafiya Badila (Alternative Geography)
  • 2013: Hatta atakhalla 'an fikrat al-buyut (Until I Give Up The Idea Of Home)
  • 2016: Kayfa talta'em: 'an al umuma wa ashbahuha (How to Mend: Motherhood and its ghosts)
  • 2019: Fi Athar Enayat al-Zayyat (In the Footsteps of Enayat al-Zayyat)

Translations by Author

  • 2016: Translation of Charles Simic (A Fly in the Soup)
  • 2011: Co-translation of Waguih Ghali (Beer in the Snooker Club)
  • 2024: Arabic translation of Wisława Szymborska (forthcoming)

Translations of Works

  • 2008: These Are Not Oranges, My Love (selected poems, translated by Khaled Mattawa)
  • 2018 / 2025 edition: How to Mend (translated by Robin Moger)
  • 2022: The Threshold: Poems (translated by Robyn Creswell)
  • 2024–2025: Traces of Enayat (translated by Robin Moger)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Lyric and essayistic styleFragmentary and repetitive narration focused on memory and photography
Recurring Motifs
MotherhoodMemory and lossPhotographyHome and migration

Legacy

Iman Mersal is an important contemporary Arab poet and writer who addresses memory and motherhood; her work has achieved international recognition through translations. Her receipt of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in Literature for Traces of Enayat notably made her the first woman to win in that category.

Quotes

  • "She navigates a long and winding road, from the only surviving picture the author has with her mother, to a deep search through what memory, photography, dreams and writing..."
    Source: Description of How to Mend: On Motherhood and its Ghosts (2018)

Trivia

  • Co-founded and co-edited the magazine Bint al-Ard (Daughter of the Earth) from 1986 to 1992.
  • Emigrated to Boston in 1998 and to Edmonton, Canada with her family in 1999.
  • First woman to win the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Literature category for Traces of Enayat.