Hiyem Cheurfa wins 2023 BACLS Monograph Prize

We're delighted to share that Hiyem Cheurfa has won the British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies' 2023 Monograph Prize for her book, 'Contemporary Arab Women’s Life Writing and the Politics of Resistance'.

From The British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies

'This is a highly original monograph that is erudite, carefully argued, and dynamic in its approach to the subject. A very timely contribution opening up a widely uncovered field. Very well contextualised, located, and structured. It considers life writing by Arab women in a clear and convincing way, providing a solid basis to those who are new to the subject as well as to those who want to pursue further research on it. The chapter on digital texts completes the wide range of works considered, providing a highly comprehensive discussion.'

From the author

'I am delighted and honoured to have won the BACLS Monograph Prize. This book is very important to me not only as my first academic monograph but as a testament to the rich and diverse body of autobiographical writings by revolutionary women from my region, the Arab world. To have the opportunity to study their literary works, to trace and reflect upon their aesthetic endeavours amidst civil wars and national political struggles has felt like a duty to me both as an academic and as an Arab woman. To have my research recognised and acknowledged by the BACLS is an immense pleasure and honour'

More on the book

'Contemporary Arab Women’s Life Writing and the Politics of Resistance' interrogates the relationship between revolutionary movements and experimental life writing forms by contemporary Arab women.

Drawing on autobiographical and postcolonial theories, it examines contemporary Arab women’s life writing as sites for the articulation of resistance to interlocking power structures and sociocultural and representational norms. Looking comparatively at subgenres of memoir, auto-portrait, testimony, diary and digital life writing across different linguistic and national contexts, this book explores why resistance is important when writing about the self for Arab women and how it is articulated through experimental formal and thematic approaches to the autobiographical genre.

Find out more about 'Contemporary Arab Women’s Life Writing and the Politics of Resistance'