Ghada Abdel Aal (Arabic: غادة محمد عبد الرازق born 1978 in El Mahalla El Kubra, Egypt) is an Egyptian author and screenwriter, best known for her satirical blog and book Wanna be a bride (Egyptian Arabic: عايزة أتجوز; [ˈʕæjzæ (ʔæ)tˈɡæwːez]). She is a winner of the 2012 Bauer Prize at the Venice International Literary Festival, and the Golden Pyramid award at the Cairo Arabic Media Festival.

Life and career

Ghada Abdel Aal was born on 21 December 1978 in El Mahalla El Kubra, Egypt. Her mother was a public relations worker, while her father was an engineer.[1] She studied pharmacy at college.[2]

Abdel Aal started on a career as a pharmacist at a hospital pharmacy in her hometown.[3] In 2006, encountering a variety of marriage proposals, she began a blog Wanna be a bride/I Wanna Get Married, satirising the experiences of Egyptian women whom society expects only to marry and have children. As the blog became popular, she was approached by a publishing house, Dar El Shorouk, to convert her writings to a book. The eponymous book, written in a colloquial Arabic, was published in 2008 and became a bestseller in the Arab world.[1][4] The book was translated to English by Nora Eltahawy in 2010.[3] There are also German, Italian and Dutch translations.[3] Abdel Aal wrote the screenplay adaptation of the book, which won the Golden Pyramid Prize at the Cairo Arabic Media Festival. Her book was also awarded the 2012 Bauer Prize at the Venice International Literary Festival.[5]

An alumna of the International Writing Program's Fall Residency (2010),[6] she wrote a screenplay for a political comedy The Night They Arrested Egypt.[1] In 2014, a 30-episode television satire series Embratoreyet Meen? (Whose Empire?) written by her began showing in Egypt.[7] She writes a humorous column for the newspaper Al-Shorouk.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tahira Yaqoob (4 June 2011). "I Want to Get Married: Ghada Abdel Aal". The National. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  2. ↑ Ellen Knickmeyer (20 October 2008). "A Courtship Veteran Muses On Search for the Right Man". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Susanne Schanda (5 November 2011). "From Anonymous Blogger to Bestselling Author". Qantara. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  4. ↑ Hadeel Al-Shalchi (4 October 2010). "In a TV comedy, Egyptian women gain a voice". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "Ghada Abdel Aal". The International Writing Program. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "2010 Residents". International Writing Program. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Susan D. Ellis; Meir R. Walters (5 September 2014). "Whose Empire? Post-revolution history in a Ramadan TV drama". Mada. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  8. ↑ May Sélim (2 January 2013). "Ghada Abdel-Aal: La pharmacienne de Mahalla". Al Ahram. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
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