Maia Tabet

Maia Tabet is an Arabic-English literary translator with a background in editing and journalism . Born in Beirut, she was raised in Lebanon, India and England. She studied philosophy and political science at the American University in Beirut and lives in the United States.

Tabet is noted for her translation of two novels by Lebanese author Elias Khoury: Little Mountain and White Masks. The former was the first Khoury novel to appear in English translation (in 1989) while the second was nominated for the 2011 Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and won the judges' commendation. She has co-translated, with Michael K. Scott, the controversial Throwing Sparks (Tarmee bi-Sharar), by Saudi writer Abdo Khal. The novel was awarded the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), also known as the Arabic Booker.

She has translated short stories, excerpts of novels and essays by authors as diverse as Elias Khoury, Iman Humaydan, Abbas Beydoun, Najwa Barakat and Alawiyya Subh (Lebanon), as well as Khalef Khalifa (Syria), Ahmed Fagih (Libya), Habib Selmi (Tunisia), Lua'ayy Hamza Abbas (Iraq) and Ali Muqri (Yemen). Her work has appeared in Banipal magazine (London), Fikrun wa Fann, a publication of the Goethe Institut in Berlin, Portal 9 (Beirut), and the Journal of Palestine Studies (Washington DC).

In addition to her work as an Arabic-English literary translator, Tabet is the associate editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. She has a serious interest in environmental sustainability and the history and art of the kitchen, in addition to a radical commitment to social justice. She is the mother of two daughters.

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