Sahar Khalifeh

Born in Nablus in 1941, Sahar Khalifeh is one of the most distinguished Palestinian novelists. She became well known in her hometown at an early age for her strong positions concerning women's liberation. She was married traditionally at an early age, and after 13 years of frustration she decided to end her marriage and dedicate her life to writing. She returned back to college and got her Phd. From the University of Iowa in the US in women's studies and American Literature.

She is currently head of the Women and Family Affairs center in Nablus. She has published six novels. The first one "we are no longer your slaves" (1974) caused great commotion because of her defence of women's cause.

However, Sahar did not receive literary recognition until her second novel "The Cactus" (1976). This novel was translated into Hebrew, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Malaysian, in addition to the English edition pubished by Prota in 1985. Her other novels have been "The Sunflowers" (1980), "Memoirs of an unrealistic woman" (1986), "Bab es Saha" (1990), and "The Inheritance". In her novels, Sahar Khalifeh expresses her deep belief that a woman's feminst awareness is an integral part of her political awareness. She shows us, in her novels, that the struggle of Palestinian women and the difficulties she faces are part of the public Palestinian political struggle for liberation.

Her style is very transparent, sensitive, and economic. Even though she writes in classical Arabic, she has an extraordinary ability to use colloquial according to the requirements of the dialogue.