Selma Dabbagh

Selma Dabbagh is a British Palestinian writer of fiction who lives in London. Her writing is mainly set in the contemporary Middle East, with recurring themes to date are idealism (however futile), placelessness, political engagement (or lack thereof) and the impact of social conformity on individuals. Selma’s first novel, Out of It, was published by Bloomsbury in 2011 and 2012 (pb). It was nominated as a Guardian Book of the Year in 2011 and 2012 by Ahdaf Soueif and Dame Marina Warner respectively. The Arabic edition, Gaze Tahta Al-Jild (Gaza Under The Skin) translated by Khulood Amr, was published by BQFP in August 2015. Italian and French editions were published in September 2017. Selma has also written and published numerous short stories with Granta, Wasafiri, Saqi, Telegram, International PEN and others. Several of her short stories have been nominated for awards and been viewed favourably by international panels of judges. She is a PEN and Pushcart Nominee. She has also produced numerous blogs and pieces of journalism for newspapers and magazines from The Guardian and the London Review of Books in the UK to GQ in India. Short pieces of her fiction and non fiction have appeared in numerous anthologies. She wrote the Imison Award nominated radio play produced by BBC Radio 4, The Brick (broadcast in January 2014) and a futuristic radio play, Sleep It Off, Dr. Schott (forthcoming, 2019, WDR, Germany). She regularly reviews works of fiction, films and plays about or by Palestinians for The Electronic Intifada and has appeared at national and international literary festivals from Ferrara and Guildford to Gaza and Jaipur and taught creative writing at schools and universities in the UK, France and the Middle East. She has also collaborated with film makers in the writing of feature films.