Dalya Cohen-Mor is an independent scholar educated in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. She is the author of A Matter of Fate: The Concept of Fate in the Arab World as Reflected in Modern Arabic Literature and Yusuf Idris: Changing Visions, as well as the editor and translator of An Arabian Mosaic: Short Stories by Arab Women Writers.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Arab Women Writers: A Brief Sketch
Thematic Aspects
Modes of Writing
Arab Women: Old Images, New Profiles

Part One: Growing Up Female

Samiya At'ut (Palestine) That Summer Holiday
Umayma al-Khamis (Saudi Arabia) The Parting Gift
Nura Amin (Egypt) Let's Play Doctor
Radwa Ashour (Egypt) In the Moonlight
Buthayna al-Nasiri (Iraq) At the Beach
Mona Ragab (Egypt) A Helping Hand
Fawziya Rashid (Bahrain) In the Recesses of Memory
Sharifa al-Shamlan (Saudi Arabia) Fragments from a Life
Najiya Thamir (Syria) The Slave

Part Two: Love and Sexuality

Nawal al-Saadawi (Egypt) The Picture
Latifa al-Zayyat (Egypt) The Picture
Layla al-Uthman (Kuwait) The Picture
Nafila Dhahab (Tunisia) The Smile
Nura Amin (Egypt) My Mother's Friend
Hayat Bin al-Shaykh (Tunisia) A Worthless Woman

Part Three: Male-Female Relations

Colette Suhayl al-Khuri (Syria) Where To?
Layla Ba'labakki (Lebanon) The Cat
Fadila al-Faruq (Algeria) The Woman of My Dreams
Samiya At'ut (Palestine) Mozart's Fez
Samira Azzam (Palestine) A Virgin Continent
Nadiya Khust (Syria) An Old Couple

Part Four: Marriage

Ihsan Kamal (Egypt) A Mistake in the Knitting
Alifa Rifaat (Egypt) My Wedding Night
Sahar al-Muji (Egypt) The Dummy
Daisy al-Amir (Iraq) The Cat, the Maid, and the Wife
Hanan al-Shaykh (Lebanon) Sun, I Am the Moon
Zuhur Wanisi (Algeria) The Dreadful Sea
Mayy Ziyada (Palestine) The Lady with the Story
Hanan al-Shaykh (Lebanon) The Persian Rug
Aliya Mamdouh (Iraq) The Dream
Sakina Fuad (Egypt) Pharaoh Is Drowning Again

Part Five: Childbearing

Ihsan Kamal (Egypt) The Spider's Web
Rafiqat al-Tabi'a (Morocco) Man and Woman
Sufi Abdallah (Egypt) Half a Woman
Ramziya Abbas al-Iryani (Yemen) Heir Apparent
Daisy al-Amir (Iraq) The Newcomer

Part Six: Self-Fulfillment

Salwa Bakr (Egypt) International Women's Day
Layla Ba'labakki (Lebanon) The Filly Became a Mouse
Umayma al-Khamis (Saudi Arabia) Restoration
Umayma al-Khamis (Saudi Arabia) Waiting for Hayla
Sahar al-Muji (Egypt) The Closely Guarded Secret
Mona Ragab (Egypt) I Will Never Forfeit My Right
Fadila al-Faruq (Algeria) Homecoming
Zabya Khamis (United Arab Emirates) Bittersweet Memories

Part Seven: Customs and Values

Samira Azzam (Palestine) Tears for Sale
Ramziya Abbas al-Iryani (Yemen) Misfortune in the Alley
Fawziya Rashid (Bahrain) Questioning
Emily Nasrallah (Lebanon) The Dinosaur
Hadiya Sa'id (Lebanon) Moonstruck
Khayriya al-Saqqaf (Saudi Arabia) A Moment of Truth
Daisy al-Amir (Iraq) The Future
Suhayr al-Tall (Jordan) The Gallows

Part Eight: The Winds of Change

Ulfat al-Idilbi (Syria) The Breeze of Youth
Suhayr al-Qalamawi (Egypt) A Successful Woman
Radwa Ashour (Egypt) In Need of Reassurance
Nafila Dhahab (Tunisia) Short and Sassy
Samiya At'ut (Palestine) The Collapse of Barriers
Salwa Bakr (Egypt) The Beginning
Nuzha Bin Sulayman (Morocco) A Moment of Contemplation
Mona Ragab (Egypt) I Will Try Tomorrow

Notes

About the Authors