Radwa Ashour was an Egyptian novelist. Ashour was born in El-Manial to Mustafa Ashour, a lawyer and literature enthusiast, and Mai Azzam, a poet and an artist. She graduated from Cairo University with a BA degree in 1967. In 1972, she received her MA in Comprehensive Literature from the same university. In 1975, Ashour graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a PhD in African American Literature. Her dissertation was entitled The search for a Black poetics: a study of Afro-American critical writings. While preparing for her PhD, Ashour was remarked as the first doctoral candidate in English who studied the literature of the African-American. She taught at Ain Shams University, Cairo. Between 1969 and 1980, Ashour's mainly focused on studying, raising up her son and playing an active role as an activist. She married Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti in 1970. She gave birth to her son, poet Tamim al-Barghouti, in 1977. In that same year, Ashour's husband, Mourid Barghouthi was deported from Egypt to Hungary. As she and her son stayed in Cairo, they used to make frequent visits to Mourid.
Ashour died on 30 November 2014 after months of long-term health problems.
Published works
Siraj, By (author), University of Texas Press, 2007, ISBN-13, 9780292717527, Book
Granada, By (author), Syracuse University Press, 2003, ISBN-13, 9780815607656, Book, Arabic, English
I Saw the Palm Trees, By (author), Dar El-Shorouk, 1987, Book
The Scream, By (author), Dar El-Shorouk, 2015, ISBN-13, 9789770933428, Book
Awards
Cairo International Book Fair, Egypt, Winner, 1994
The First Arab Woman Book Fair, Egypt, Winner, 1995
Constantine Cavafy Prize for Literature, Winner, 2007
The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards, United Arab Emirates, Winner, 2011
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.