Hanan al-Shaykh

Lebanese author

Hanan al-Shaykh was born in Lebanon and grew up in Beirut. She attended school in Cairo but returned to Beirut to work as a journalist. The outbreak of the civil war in Beirut forced her to leave the country, and she worked for nine years travelling between London and the Gulf States. For the past 25 years, she has lived in London. Although she writes in Arabic, the majority of her work is available in English.

Al-Shaykh is the author of a number of novels, including Suicide of a Dead man (1970), Only in London, and The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story (2009). Her collection of stories I Sweep the Sunshine off the Rooftops was published in 2002. She is also a playwright and her plays Dark Afternoon Tea (1993) and Paper Husband (1997) have been performed at the Hampstead Theatre.