Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Selma is a British Palestinian writer of fiction who lives in London. Her writing is mainly set in the contemporary Middle East, but it doesn’t have to be. Recurring themes to date are idealism (however futile), placelessness, political engagement (or lack thereof) and the impact of social conformity on individuals.
Selma’s first novel, Out of It, was published by Bloomsbury in 2011 and 2012 (pbk). Out of It was positively reviewed in the UK, the US and the Middle East. It was nominated as a Guardian Book of the Year in 2011 and 2012. The Arabic edition, Gaze Tahta Al-Jild (Gaza Under The Skin) translated by Khulood Amr, was published by BQFP in August 2015.
Selma has also written and published numerous short stories with Granta, Wasafiri, International PEN and others. She wrote an Imison Award nominated radio play produced by BBC Radio 4, The Brick (broadcast in January 2014).
She has also produced numerous blogs and pieces of journalism for newspapers and magazines from The Guardian and the LRB in the UK to GQ in India.
regularly reviews works of fiction, films and plays about or by Palestinians for The Electronic Intifada and has appeared at national and international literary festivals from Frome and Guildford to Gaza and Jaipur & taught creative writing at schools and universities in the UK and the Middle East.
She has also collaborated with film makers in the writing of feature films. Her work has been translated into Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and may soon be translated into Italian.
Source Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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