Emily Nasrallah
| Emily Abi Rached Nasrallah | |
|---|---|
| Born |
6 July 1931 Kfeir, Lebanon |
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist, short-story writer |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Period | 1962-present |
| Spouse | Philip Nasrallah |
| Children | Ramzi, Maha, Khalil, and Mona. |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Emily Nasrallah (Arabic: اميلي نصرالله, Imilī Naṣr Allāh), née Emily Abi Rached on 6 July 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.
Emily Daoud Abi Rached was born in the small village of al-Kfeir (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 girl's 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.
After finishing her studies at the elementary public school of the village which only offered education till the third elementary 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.
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