Al-Katiba — The Woman Writer
The first monthly cultural review for female writers in the Arab world.
An open cultural space
Al-Katiba is an e-magazine, the first of its kind in the Arab world, a cultural project that aspires to create an open space to experiment and innovate. In the absence of a free literary platform concerned with the creativity of women and with writings that revolve around the female entity within the history of Arab culture, Al-Katiba aspires to be a space that attracts women who push literature towards the forefront of liberal self-discourse, restricted by no guidelines, except those that measure the intellectual quality of a thought.
"This cultural project will not be a magazine for women's facades similar to the ones we see prevailing, but rather a cultural platform assembled to support those that have a desire for freedoms that are suppressed. It will be a serious attempt towards an open space for experimentation and innovation. Al-Katiba is the third space — an alternative to the culture of despotism and consumption on one hand, and the culture of breaking with modernity on the other."
London, 1993 – 1995
The project started as an independent monthly paper magazine issued from London between 1993–1995. 3,000 copies of each issue were distributed across Europe and parts of the Middle East. The magazine was forcibly suspended for financial reasons and was self-funded by its founder. It attracted dozens of leading Arab writers from both the homeland and the diaspora.
A generation of Arab letters
- Latifa Al Zayat
- Salma Al Khadra Al Jayyousi
- Edward Said
- Mahmoud Darwish
- Ahdaf Soueif
- Khaldoun Al-Shamaa
- Etel Adnan
- Helen Al-Khal
- Subhi Hadidi
- Fatima Al-Mernisi
- Hisham Sharabi
- Radwa Ashour
- Aziz Al-Azmeh
- Huda Barakat
- Edwar Al-Kharrat
- Rana Qabbani
- Lutfiya al-Dulaimi
- Maysoon Saqr
- George Tarabishi
- Hanan Al-Sheikh
- Thuraya Al-Areed
- Kamal Abu Deeb
- Asia Jabbar
"The adventure of women in writing & writing in women"
Six commitments
IPublishing literary and intellectual writings, and launching open debates that collect divergent opinions on the basis of the right to different opinions.+
IIAdvancing the image of women in Arab culture, past and present.+
IIIStanding firmly behind new young writers and their personal expressions — poetry, story, critique, and other forms.+
IVIncluding critique on readings, book reviews, monitoring trends in Arab literature, thought and art, and monitoring feminist movements.+
VCulture is the product of accumulation not rupture — Al-Katiba believes Arab culture must be global, capable of addressing the other.+
VIAl-Katiba is a free cultural site deriving its strength from full independence from state-sponsored institutions.+
The first Arab prize for a novel written by women
Established in 1994, discontinued following 1995. The jury: Edward Al-Kharrat (Egypt), Yamna Eid (Lebanon), Subhi Hadidi (Syria). 17 novels from eight Arab countries participated.
Winner of the first — and only — edition: Lebanese writer Hadia Saeed for her novel Black Grove (بستان أسود), published in 1995 by Al-Katiba magazine in cooperation with the Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing.
Three book series
Sheherazade SaidLiterary anthology series+
Women's VoicesContemporary writings series+
The Text's ReturnRooting liberal thought about women+
The third space, resumed
The development of the magazine into a website means the resumption of a critical project. Al-Katiba will be an event that meets an urgent cultural need — the third space alternative to cultures of oppression and fundamentalism.
Coming soon: Digital Platform