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Sahar Khalifeh

サハル・ハリーファ

Sahar Khalifeh

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1941-01-01 （Nablus, British Mandate for Palestine）
Nationality
Palestinian
Languages
Arabic, English
Residence History
Nablus (birthplace) → Amman (residence during early marriage) → United States (study in North Carolina and Iowa) → Nablus (returned after 1988)

Career

Occupations
writer, novelist, feminist
Active Years
1967-
Affiliations
Women's Affairs Center (founded in Nablus)
Influenced By
Mahmoud Darwish, Existentialist thinkers and movement

Education

Birzeit University
English Department
Degree: BA
Country: Palestine
Obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
English (graduate studies)
Degree: MA
Country: United States
Completed MA on a Fulbright scholarship
University of Iowa
Women's Studies and American Literature
Degree: PhD
Country: United States
Earned a PhD in Women's Studies and American Literature

Awards

Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature
2006
Work: The Image, the Icon and the Covenant
Organization: American University in Cairo (Mahfouz Medal committee)
Result: winner
Mohamed Zafzaf Prize
2013
Organization: Moroccan literary organization
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Wild Thorns

1976 social novel / political novel

A landmark novel exploring class divisions and everyday life under Israeli occupation in Palestine, portraying tensions through characters from different social backgrounds.

occupationclassresistancedaily life
Translations
  • English translation (Interlink, 2000)

We Are Not Your Slave Girls Anymore

1974 feminist novel

An early work focusing on women's liberation and critiquing traditional gender roles, reflecting the author's youthful experiences and concerns about women's situations.

women's rightsmarriage and oppressionsocial expectations

The Sunflower

1980 social novel / women's literature

A sequel-like novel that delves into the female perspectives from Wild Thorns, depicting women's lives, resistance, and family relations under occupation.

female perspectivelife under occupationfamily

Of Noble Origins

2009 historical novel

Set on the eve of the 1948 Nakba, the novel follows characters confronting the British Mandate and Zionist movement, exploring transformations of land and identity.

Nakbahistory and memoryidentity
Translations
  • English translation (AUC Press, 2012)

Passage to the Plaza

1988 political / social novel

Set against the First Intifada, it portrays women's daily lives and political awakening; one of the important works written after the author's return home.

Intifadawomen's activismresistance and daily life
Translations
  • English translation (Seagull Books, 2020)

My First and Only Love

2010 contemporary novel

The story of a Palestinian woman returning to Nablus after years in exile; themes of homecoming, memory, and reunion.

exile and returnmemorypersonal history
Translations
  • English translation (Hoopoe, 2021)

Bibliography

  • Lam na’ud ghawārī lakum (1974) — We Are Not Your Slave Girls Anymore
  • Wild Thorns (1976)
  • Abbad al-Shams (1980) — The Sunflower
  • Mudhakkirāt imra’ah ghayr wāqi’īyah (1986) — Memoirs of an Unrealistic Woman
  • Asl wa-Fasl (2009) — Of Noble Origins
  • Rabi’ Harr (2004) — Hot Spring
  • Bab al-Saha (1988) — Passage to the Plaza
  • My First and Only Love (2010)

Translations of Works

  • Wild Thorns — English translation (Interlink, 2000)
  • The Image, the Icon and the Covenant — English translation (Interlink, 2008)
  • Of Noble Origins — English translation (AUC Press, 2012)
  • Passage to the Plaza — English translation (Seagull Books, 2020)
  • My First and Only Love — English translation (Hoopoe, 2021)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
social realismfeminist perspectivenarrative rooted in political and historical context
Recurring Motifs
occupation and resistancewomen's experiences and oppressionclass differences and family relationsmemory and return

Legacy

Sahar Khalifeh is a leading Palestinian woman writer whose novels articulating life under occupation, women's voices, and social resistance have gained international recognition and influence through translations.

Quotes

  • “I learned that I was a member of a miserable, useless, worthless sex.”
    Source: Interview: Khalifeh, 'My Life, Myself, and the World' (Al Jadid)

Trivia

  • Born the fifth of eight daughters in Nablus.
  • Studied in the U.S. on a Fulbright scholarship; undertook MA at UNC-Chapel Hill and PhD at University of Iowa.
  • Founded the Women's Affairs Center in Nablus in 1988.