{{Infobox person | name = Alexandra Chreiteh | image = Alexandra Chreiteh speaking in Shubbak Festival of Arabic Literature in London 2017.jpg | caption = Alexandra Chreiteh speaking in 'Shubbak,' Festival of Arabic Literature, London, UK 2017 | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1987}} | birth_place = Moscow, Russia | education = {{Plainlist| * PhD in Comparative Literature from Yale University * B.A. in English Literature from Lebanese American University }} }}
'''Alexandra Chreiteh''' ألكسندرا شريتح is a Lebanese author known for her portrayal of the barriers faced by Arab women.<ref>[http://neonmagazine.co.uk/?p=4673 "Review: “The Missing Slate” Literary Magazine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816201946/http://neonmagazine.co.uk/?p=4673 |date=2016-08-16 }}. ''Neon Magazine'', Christopher Frost</ref>
==Life and work== Chreiteh was born in Moscow, Russia, and was raised in a religiously conservative region in Lebanon by her Russian mother and Lebanese father. Chreiteh completed her bachelor's degree in English literature at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon. In Fall 2009, after being granted a graduate fellowship by Yale University, she commenced her PhD in Comparative Literature. While at Yale, Chreiteh completed her Master of Arts as well as a Master of Philosophy in comparative literature. She graduated with a PhD in 2016. Among other literature and film classes, Chreiteh taught creative writing at Yale's iconic ''Daily Themes'' course.
Chreiteh's creative work is originally in Arabic. Her work focuses on the intimate zones of conflict in post-war Lebanon. It breaks taboos as it deals with women and sexuality in environments that negotiate tradition and modernity. Her fresh narratives, the unique ironic-humorous style she voices, as well as her radical use of language, make her stand out in the literary landscape. Chreiteh has been a speaker in major literary festivals such as The Solothurn Festival of Literature in Solothurn, Switzerland (2012) and the Shubbak Festival of Arabic Literature, speaking on “Queerness and Queer Characters in Arabic Literature” in The British Library, London, United Kingdom (2017).
Chreiteh is based in Boston, where she is a Mellon Bridge Assistant Professor of Arabic and International Literary and Visual Studies at Tufts University. Her intellectual work on The Fantastic, Magical Realism, and Genre in Minority Literatures has appeared in various academic publications. She is fluent Arabic, Russian, English, French, Hebrew, and speaks some German. Chreiteh is working on her third novel. thumb|Alexandra Chreiteh reading from her novel, Boston University, 2017|alt=
==''Always Coca-Cola''== Chreiteh completed her first novel, ''Always Coca-Cola'', while studying at the Lebanese American University, after drafting the story for an assignment in an Arabic creative writing class.<ref name=lau>{{cite web|title=LAU grad garners praise for publishing captivating short novel|url=http://www.lau.edu.lb/news-events/news/archive/lau_grad_garners_praise_for_pu/|website=Lebanese American University|publisher=Lebanese American University Alumni|accessdate=5 October 2014}}</ref> The book's protagonist is Abeer Ward, a college-age woman who is concerned with protecting her purity and closely following Muslim traditions.<ref>[http://nowheremag.com/2014/05/whats-going-on-in-beirut-lebanon/ " What’s Going On In… Beirut, Lebanon"]. ''Nowhere Magazine'', May 2014. by Sarah Coury</ref> Her close friend and model, Yana, is pregnant out of wedlock, and Abeer attempts to help her.<ref>[http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/always-coca-cola "Always Coca-Cola"]. ''New York Review of Books'', Reviewed by: Michael Adelberg</ref> Yana's modeling career puts her into a soda ad that features her nearly naked body.<ref>[https://www.egyptindependent.com/news/defining-lebanese-woman-alexandra-chrietehs-always-coca-cola "Defining (a Lebanese) woman: Alexandra Chrieteh's 'Always Coca-Cola'"]. ''Egyptian Independent'', 03/06/2012. M. Lynx Qualey</ref> Abeer witnesses and experiences many attacks on women's bodies which lead her to experience a coming-of-age moment.<ref>[https://en.qantara.de/content/book-review-always-coca-cola-by-alexandra-chreiteh-the-agony-and-the-allure "The agony and the allure"]. ''Quantara'', Book review by Volker Kaminski, 17.08.2015 Translated from the German by Ron Walker</ref>
The manuscript, which drew offers from three publishers, was first released in May 2009 and English translation by Michelle Hartman followed in 2012.<ref name="Publisher's">{{cite web|title=Always Coca-Cola: A Novel|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56656-873-9|website=Publishers Weekly|publisher=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=28 July 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alexandra-chreiteh/always-coca-cola-chreiteh/ "ALWAYS COCA-COLA"]. ''Kirkus Reviews'', Issue: March 1st, 2012</ref> It received favourable reviews for shedding an intimate light on the lives of Arab women.<ref name=qualey>{{cite news|last1=Qualey|first1=Lynx|title=Defining (a Lebanese) woman: Alexandra Chrieteh's 'Always Coca-Cola'|url=https://www.egyptindependent.com/news/defining-lebanese-woman-alexandra-chrietehs-always-coca-cola|publisher=Egyptian Independent|date=March 6, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Garman">{{cite web|last1=Garman|first1=Emma|title=Alexandra Chreiteh's "Always Coca-Cola" - Words Without Borders|url=https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/book-review/alexandra-chreitehs-always-coca-cola|publisher=Words Without Borders|accessdate=29 July 2016}}</ref> According to Chreiteh, she "wasn't trying to write something extraordinary - it's just the people you see every day".<ref name=lau />
==''Ali and His Russian Mother''== In 2010, Chreiteh published her second novel, ''Ali and His Russian Mother'' [ʻAlī wa-ummuhu al-Rūsīyah]. Like ''Always Coca-Cola'', it was translated to English by Michelle Hartman who maintained Chreiteh's omission of chapters or subheadings in favour of a "continuous flow of words".<ref name="Hussain">{{cite web|last1=Hussain|first1=Sawad|title=In Review: Ali and His Russian Mother by Alexandra Chreiteh - Asymptote Blog|url=https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2016/01/07/in-review-ali-and-his-russian-mother-by-alexandra-chreiteh/|website=www.asymptotejournal.com|publisher=Asymptote|accessdate=29 July 2016}}</ref> The story takes place in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War. The protagonist is a young homosexual Lebanese man who discovers that one of his ancestors was Jewish.<ref>[http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/columns/article/homosexuality-and-the-arabic-novel_34942 "Homosexuality and the Arabic novel"]. ''Your Middle East'', Marcia Lynx Qualey, September 14, 2015</ref>
== Bibliography ==
* 2009; ''Always Coca-Cola'', a novel in Arabic. Arab Scientific Publishers: Beirut, Lebanon * 2009; ''Ali and his Russian Mother [ʻAlī wa-ummuhu al-Rūsīyah]'', a novel in Arabic. Arab Scientific Publishers: Beirut, Lebanon * ''2012; Always Coca-Cola'', Translated to English by Michelle Hartman. Interlink Publishers: Northampton, MA, USA * ''2015; Always Coca-Cola'', Translated to German by Christine Batterman. Verlag Hans Schiler: Berlin, Germany * ''2015; Ali and his Russian Mother'', a novel in Arabic. Translated to English by Michelle Hartman. Interlink Publishers: Northampton, MA, USA
==Further reading== {{cite journal|last1=Sinno|first1=Nadine|title=Milk and Honey, Tabbūleh, and Coke: Orientalist, Local, and Global Discourses in Alexandra Chreiteh's Dāyman Coca-Cola|journal=Middle Eastern Literatures|date=25 November 2015|volume=18|issue=2|pages=122–143|doi=10.1080/1475262X.2015.1110890}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alexandra-chreiteh/78/34a/983 Alexandra Chreiteh's Linkedin]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chreiteh, Alexandra}} Category:Living people Category:Lebanese women writers Category:1987 births Category:Lebanese American University alumni Category:Yale University alumni Category:Tufts University faculty