In this episode we speak with writer Huzama Habayeb about her literary beginnings in Kuwait, the relationship between writing and the refugee camp, and her award-winning novel Velvet.

Huzama Habayeb was born in 1965 in Kuwait to a Palestinian family. She studied English literature and worked in journalism, until she was forced to flee Kuwait during the Gulf war. She moved to Jordan, where she worked in journalism, education, and translation, before settling in the United Arab Emirates. Habayeb started off her career in 1990 by publishing a number of poems. She has since moved between poetry, short stories, and the novel. Since the publication of her novel Velvet, which received the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, she has published a poetry collection Ahadith al-Wisada (Pillow talk) (2019) and a collection of letters exchanged with another guest of this podcast writer Mahmoud Shukair.

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Produced by the PalREAD – Country of Words project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC)

Interviewer: Farah Chamma

Writer, Producer and Editor: Ibrahim Abdou

Host & Concept Design: Refqa Abu-Remaileh

Research Support: Heba Tebakhi

Sound Editing & Design: Ziad Fayed

VO Recording: Gianpiero Tari

Music: “The Astounding Eyes of Rita” by Anouar Brahem (ECM Records, 2009)

Cover Art: Alexandra Sophia Handal

Production, logistics and technical support: Sowt