Samar Yazbek
Samar Yazbek is a Syrian writer and journalist. She was born in Jableh, Syria, near Latakia, in 1970, and studied Arabic literature at Latakia university. She has written in a wide variety of genres - novels, short stories, film scripts, television dramas, film and TV criticism, literary narratives.
Biography
In 2010, Yazbek was selected as one of the 39 most promising authors under the age of 40, by Beirut39, a contest organized by the Hay Festival. In 2011, she took part in the popular uprising against the Assad regime, and was forced to exile a few months later. In 2012, she was chosen for the prestigious PEN/Pinter Prize "International writer of courage", in recognition of her book In the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution. She was also awarded the Swedish Tucholsky Prize, and the Dutch Oxfam/PEN, in the same year. In 2016 Yazbek's literary narrative The Crossing was awarded the prestigious French “Best Foreign Book” prize.She also participated in the Syrian cultural caravan, which was an artistic and cultural movement led by Syrian artists that started with a project called "Freedom for the Syrian People" and involved a road trip across Europe.
Works
Yazbek has been a prominent voice in support of human rights and more specifically women's rights in Syria. In 2012, she launched Women Now for Development, an NGO based in France that aims at empowering Syrian women economically and socially.| Year | Publications | Genre | Countries |
| 2018 | 19 women: Tales of resilience from Syria | Literary narrative | France – Sweden - Italy |
Awards & Distinctions
- 2016 Best Foreign Book award for “The crossing”
- 2013 PEN-OXFAM Novib award for “In the crossfire”
- 2012 PEN Tucholsky award for “In the crossfire”
- 2012 PEN Pinter award for “In the crossfire”
- 2010 Selected in the “Beirut 39, Hay festival” selection of outstanding writers under 40
- 2000 UNICEF, Best literary scenario award to “A falling sky”
Some other publications
- “Silence”, PEN Atlas, February 2014
- “I write with blind eyes and forty fingers”, Index on censorship, December 2014
- “On two and a half years of massacre in Syria”, SvD & FAZ, September 2013
- “Syria’s inferno”, Le Nouvel Observateur, bibliobs, September 2013
- “The novelist vs. the revolutionary: My own Syrian debate”, Washington Post, September 2013
- “In the shadow of Assad’s bombs”, The New York Times, OpEd, August 2012
- “Two men”, The Guardian, August 2011