International Prize for Arabic Fiction Longlist Profiles: Ibtisam Ibrahim Teressy

Ibtisam Ibrahim Teressy is a Syrian writer who has published four novels and two short-story collections.

You can read some of her work on the website Syrian Story, in Arabic.

You can also read one of her stories online in French.

Generally, I didn’t find much about her. Several people have marked Ain Shams as “to-read” on GoodReads, but no one has rated it.

The GoodReads site does have a description, or you can take the word of IPAF organizers:

In The Eye of the Sun, protagonist Nasma returns to Syria after years in exile in Sweden and is forced to confront painful memories. Her story reveals a past filled with conflict: from domestic turmoil under a cruel and manipulative father, to political upheaval affecting both her family and the entire population of Aleppo. As well as relating the events that shaped her life up until the present, the novel explores the relationships she has with the men in her life, from her father and brother to her lovers, the man who tortures her and the man to whom she is now married.

Previously profiled: Egyptian Miral al-Tahawy, longlisted for her Brooklyn Heights, Bensalam Himmich,  for My Tormentor, Fawaz Haddad, for God’s Soldiers, Khairy Shalaby, for Istasia, Raja Alem for The Doves’ Necklace, Renee Hayek for A Short Life, Waciny Laredj for The Andalucian House, Maha Hassan for Secret Rope, Mohammad Achaari for The Arch and the Butterfly, Maqbul Moussa Al-Alawi for Turmoil in Jeddah, Khaled al-Berry for Middle Eastern Dance, Razan Naim al-Maghrabi for Women of Wind, and Fatin al-Murr for Common Sins.

See the full longlist here.

Sorry, I realize I’m floundering a bit here, at the end. Just one more, el hamdulallah.