Emily Nasrallah
Encyclopedia
Emily Nasrallah née
Emily Abi Rached on July 6, 1931 in Kfeir
, Lebanon
; is a Lebanese
writer and women's rights activist. Emily showed literary talents at an early age, she took up writing and journalism while still in college a talent for which she would receive great recognition. She graduated from the American University of Beirut
in 1958 with a BA in education and literature, but soon achieved acclaim for her writing with the publication of her first novel, Birds of September, in 1962. The book earned her instant praise and three Arabic literary prizes. She became a prolific writer, publishing many novels, children’s stories and short story collections touching on themes such as family, village life, war, emigration and women’s rights. The latter has been a subject she has maintained support for throughout her life.
(at the western foot of Mount Hermon
in southern Lebanon
) on 6 July 1931 to Loutfa, née Abou Nasr and her husband Daoud Abi Rached. The eldest of six children, Emily grew up working in the village fields with her parents; an experience that would have later echoes in her writings. Little Emily watched the village emptying and family members emigrating in search for greener pastures especially that the village offered feeble educational and professional prospects. Kfeir’s public school only received students at the age of six but four year old Emily's passion for learning drove her to eavesdrop on the classes, the school being adjacent to her parental home. Emily used to recite the poems and stories she heard to her father and his friends. Emily's maternal uncle Ayub Abou Nasr, a fellow of the New York Pen League
took special interest in Emily's education when he returned from emigration due to a neurological illness; he quickly recognized the little girls talent and encouraged her learning. Ayub would often ask Emily to write descriptive essays _of Mount Hermon for example_ which helped broaden her imagination and further her writing skills.
grade at that time, Emily wrote a letter to her second maternal uncle, an expatriate
businessman in West Virginia
expressing her interest in pursuing higher education and explaining her family's dire financial circumstances that prevented her from paying private schooling fees. Emily's uncle granted her wish and paid for her tuition. Emily left her hometown when she was sixteen years of age to pursue her education at the Choueifat
National College, a boarding school in the suburbs of Beirut
.
She studied in the Choueifat school for four years, during this period her passion for literature deepened as she became an avid reader. Emily compensated for the absence of a library in her hometown with spending many hours at the Choueifat school library; since she had no resources to buy books, Emily resorted to smuggling Mikha'il Na'ima
and Khalil Gibran
books _who would influence her writing career greatly_ from the college library in order to read them illicitly in her bed. Young Emily's fondness of reading was ever-growing, she admitted enjoying the 'interesting reading material' found in the journal and magazine shreds that enveloped dragées and other sweets.
Emily credits Nassim Nasser her Arabic language
teacher in helping to develop her writing skills and orienting her through his 'red correction pen harsh criticism' as Emily puts it. Nassim Nasser was the first to publish Emily's writings in the Telegraph a local Beirut
ine magazine between the years 1949-1950; he also encouraged and selected Emily to participate in composition
and rhetoric contests
.
In 1955, Amal Makdessy Kortas (director of the Ahliah school
) offered Emily a job and lodging at the school in Wadi Abu Jamil
; she taught for two hours daily at the school where Hanan al-Shaykh
had been her pupil. Emily fell short from paying her college education tuition and was financially aided by her friend and colleague at the Ahlia school Jalila Srour. In addition to teaching at the Ahliah school, Emily had to tutor, write magazine articles in Sawt al Mar'a and lend her voice to the national radio (al-itha'a al-lubnaniyya) to repay her debt to Jalila and pay for her college education at the Beirut College for Women
and the American University of Beirut
where she majored with a Bachelor of Arts
in education and literature in 1958.
and started her 15 years long career at as-Sayyad (the hunter) magazine writing in the society news section; she also contributed articles to al-Anwar newspaper. Between 1973 and 1975, Emily worked as cultural and public relation consultant at the Beirut University College before joining Fayruz Magazine from 1981 till 1987 as feature editor.
from Zahleh in 1957 while still in college. The couple had four children: Ramzi, Maha, Khalil, and Mona.
Emily never left Beirut even at the height of the Lebanese civil war
, she became one of the Beirut Decentrists.miriam cooke
coined the term "Beirut decentrists" for the Lebanese women writers as they have been twice "decentred". Once because they are "scattered all over a self-destructing city" and secondly because they are excluded from literary canon and social discourse." Emily currently lives in Verdun, an exclusive Beirut
y neighborhood.
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Emily Abi Rached on July 6, 1931 in Kfeir
Kfeir
Kfeir is a small village nestled 900 m above sea level along the steep slopes of Mount Hermon in Lebanon.The village enjoys mild summers of an average temperature of 25 C. However, the winters are much colder and the village receives heavy snow...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
; is a Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
writer and women's rights activist. Emily showed literary talents at an early age, she took up writing and journalism while still in college a talent for which she would receive great recognition. She graduated from the American University of Beirut
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
in 1958 with a BA in education and literature, but soon achieved acclaim for her writing with the publication of her first novel, Birds of September, in 1962. The book earned her instant praise and three Arabic literary prizes. She became a prolific writer, publishing many novels, children’s stories and short story collections touching on themes such as family, village life, war, emigration and women’s rights. The latter has been a subject she has maintained support for throughout her life.
Early life
Emily Daoud Abi Rached was born in the small village of al-KfeirKfeir
Kfeir is a small village nestled 900 m above sea level along the steep slopes of Mount Hermon in Lebanon.The village enjoys mild summers of an average temperature of 25 C. However, the winters are much colder and the village receives heavy snow...
(at the western foot of Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon is a mountain cluster in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top there is “Hermon Hotel”, in the buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied...
in southern Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
) on 6 July 1931 to Loutfa, née Abou Nasr and her husband Daoud Abi Rached. The eldest of six children, Emily grew up working in the village fields with her parents; an experience that would have later echoes in her writings. Little Emily watched the village emptying and family members emigrating in search for greener pastures especially that the village offered feeble educational and professional prospects. Kfeir’s public school only received students at the age of six but four year old Emily's passion for learning drove her to eavesdrop on the classes, the school being adjacent to her parental home. Emily used to recite the poems and stories she heard to her father and his friends. Emily's maternal uncle Ayub Abou Nasr, a fellow of the New York Pen League
Al-Rabitah al-Qalamiyah
Al-Rābiṭah al-Qalamiyah , also known as al-Mahjar , was the first Arab-American literary society, formed initially by Nasib Arida and Abdul Massih Haddad in 1915 or 1916, and subsequently re-formed in 1920 by a group of Arab writers in New York led by Khalil Gibran, from a group of writers who has...
took special interest in Emily's education when he returned from emigration due to a neurological illness; he quickly recognized the little girls talent and encouraged her learning. Ayub would often ask Emily to write descriptive essays _of Mount Hermon for example_ which helped broaden her imagination and further her writing skills.
Youth in the boarding school
After finishing her studies at the elementary public school of the village which only offered education till the third elementaryPrimary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
grade at that time, Emily wrote a letter to her second maternal uncle, an expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
businessman in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
expressing her interest in pursuing higher education and explaining her family's dire financial circumstances that prevented her from paying private schooling fees. Emily's uncle granted her wish and paid for her tuition. Emily left her hometown when she was sixteen years of age to pursue her education at the Choueifat
Choueifat
Choueifat is a suburb southeast of Beirut in Lebanon. The town is a Druze and Christian enclave that lies on the eastern side of Beirut's airport...
National College, a boarding school in the suburbs of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
She studied in the Choueifat school for four years, during this period her passion for literature deepened as she became an avid reader. Emily compensated for the absence of a library in her hometown with spending many hours at the Choueifat school library; since she had no resources to buy books, Emily resorted to smuggling Mikha'il Na'ima
Mikha'il Na'ima
Mikha'il Na'ima was a Lebanese author and poet of the New York Pen League.-Biography:...
and Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān,Jibrān Khalīl Jibrān, or Jibrān Xalīl Jibrān; Arabic , January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) also known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer...
books _who would influence her writing career greatly_ from the college library in order to read them illicitly in her bed. Young Emily's fondness of reading was ever-growing, she admitted enjoying the 'interesting reading material' found in the journal and magazine shreds that enveloped dragées and other sweets.
Emily credits Nassim Nasser her Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
teacher in helping to develop her writing skills and orienting her through his 'red correction pen harsh criticism' as Emily puts it. Nassim Nasser was the first to publish Emily's writings in the Telegraph a local Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
ine magazine between the years 1949-1950; he also encouraged and selected Emily to participate in composition
Composition (language)
The term composition , in written language, refers to the collective body of important features established by the author in their creation of literature...
and rhetoric contests
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
.
College and career
After graduation, Emily's parents wanted her to come back to Kfeir and teach at the village school as they did not wish for her to live alone in the city; Emily decided otherwise, she came back to Beirut where she tutored Edvique Shayboub'sEdvique Shayboub was a contemporary journalist and novelist, editor in chief of Sawt el Mar'a magazine children. Edvique, editor in chief of Sawt al Mar'a (Woman's voice) magazine, helped Emily in her career as she offered her the opportunity to publish articles in her magazine and encouraged her to settle in Beirut.In 1955, Amal Makdessy Kortas (director of the Ahliah school
Ahliah school
The Ahliah school is a private, coeducational school in Beirut, Lebanon.- Mary Kassab School:In 1916, when the Ottoman authorities ordered the closing of foreign schools, Mary Kassab gathered in her home sixteen boys and girls who were enrolled at the British School and pledged to ensure their...
) offered Emily a job and lodging at the school in Wadi Abu Jamil
Wadi Abu Jamil
Wadi Abu Jamil, located in Beirut's Centre Ville, is the Jewish quarter in Beirut, Lebanon.-History:Formally known as Wadi al-Yahoud ., the quarter was the center of the Lebanese Jewish community, with Beirut's largest and most important synagogue, the Maghen Abraham Synagogue, located there...
; she taught for two hours daily at the school where Hanan al-Shaykh
Hanan al-Shaykh
Hanan al-Shaykh is a Lebanese author of contemporary Arab women's literature.- Biography :Hanan al-Shaykh's family background is that of a strict Shi'a...
had been her pupil. Emily fell short from paying her college education tuition and was financially aided by her friend and colleague at the Ahlia school Jalila Srour. In addition to teaching at the Ahliah school, Emily had to tutor, write magazine articles in Sawt al Mar'a and lend her voice to the national radio (al-itha'a al-lubnaniyya) to repay her debt to Jalila and pay for her college education at the Beirut College for Women
Lebanese American University
The Lebanese American University is a secular, private and independent American university located in Lebanon...
and the American University of Beirut
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
where she majored with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in education and literature in 1958.
Career and journalism
In 1955 Emily was introduced to Jacqueline Nahas, a journalist at as-Sayyad publishing housePublishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
and started her 15 years long career at as-Sayyad (the hunter) magazine writing in the society news section; she also contributed articles to al-Anwar newspaper. Between 1973 and 1975, Emily worked as cultural and public relation consultant at the Beirut University College before joining Fayruz Magazine from 1981 till 1987 as feature editor.
Personal life
Emily married Philip Nasrallah, a chemistChemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
from Zahleh in 1957 while still in college. The couple had four children: Ramzi, Maha, Khalil, and Mona.
Emily never left Beirut even at the height of the Lebanese civil war
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
, she became one of the Beirut Decentrists.miriam cooke
Miriam Cooke
Miriam Cooke is an American born, British trained academic in Middle Eastern/Arab world studies. She focuses on modern Arabic literature, and connecting women's narratives of war stories to a critical reassessment of their role in the public sphere....
coined the term "Beirut decentrists" for the Lebanese women writers as they have been twice "decentred". Once because they are "scattered all over a self-destructing city" and secondly because they are excluded from literary canon and social discourse." Emily currently lives in Verdun, an exclusive Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
y neighborhood.