{{short description|Syrian writer and translator (born 1982)}} '''Dima Wannous''' ({{langx|ar|ديمة ونوس}}; born 1982 in Damascus, Syria) is a Syrian literary writer and journalist. She studied French literature at Damascus University and the University of Paris - Sorbonne. She also studied translation in France and has lived in Beirut, where she worked for the newspapers ''Al-Hayat'' and ''As-Safir''. She has also worked for broadcast media (radio and TV).
==Life and career==
Wannous first became known with ''Tafasil'' (''Details''), a short story collection released in 2007, which describes the Syrian society focussing on different characters with "ironic-grotesque overtones" and showing how they bow to power.<ref>[https://www.literaturfestival.com/autoren-en/autoren-2018-en/dima-wannous internationales literaturfestival berlin]</ref> She published her debut novel ''Kursi'' (''The Chair'') in 2008. In 2009, she was named one of the Beirut39, a group of 39 Arab writers under the age of 40 chosen through a contest by Banipal magazine and the Hay Festival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Banipal (UK) Magazine of Modern Arab Literature - Contributors - Dima Wannous |url=https://www.banipal.co.uk/contributors/contributor.cfm?contributor_id=542 |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=www.banipal.co.uk}}</ref>
Her 2017 novel ''Kha'ifoun'' (''The Frightened Ones''), describes the life of a young woman in Damascus during the Syrian civil war who receives a manuscript from a former lover who had fled to Germany. The book was shortlisted for the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shortlist Announced for International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2018 {{!}} International Prize for Arabic Fiction |url=https://www.arabicfiction.org/en/2018shortlist_announcement1 |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=www.arabicfiction.org}}</ref> and has been translated into English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Turkish, and Norwegian.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/15/the-frightened-ones-by-dima-wannous-review-love-and-loneliness-in-syria|title=The Frightened Ones by Dima Wannous review – love and loneliness in Syria|website=The Guardian|date=15 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.morgenbladet.no/boker/anmeldelser/2021/10/29/en-nesten-klaustrofobisk-intim-roman|title=Review of the Norwegian translation of Kha'ifoun – An almost claustrophobically intimate novel|website=Morgenbladet|date=29 October 2021}}</ref>
Her narrative style has been described as "sober and often painfully precise".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-05 |title=Book review: Dima Wannousʹ "Die Veraengstigten": Naked despair laid bare {{!}} Qantara.de |url=https://qantara.de/en/article/book-review-dima-wannous%CA%B9-die-veraengstigten-naked-despair-laid-bare |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=qantara.de |language=en}}</ref>
Dima Wannous is the daughter of Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous.<ref>[https://www.literaturfestival.com/autoren-en/autoren-2018-en/dima-wannous internationales literaturfestival berlin]</ref> She is married to the Syrian journalist Ibrahim Hamidi<ref>[https://www.literaturfestival.com/autoren-en/autoren-2018-en/dima-wannous internationales literaturfestival berlin]</ref> and both live in London.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200706183852/https://www.bozar.be/en/activities/150095-dima-wannous Bozar]</ref>
== See also ==
* Syrian literature - Literature in the context of war and imprisonment
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.banipal.co.uk/selections/selection.cfm?publication_id=60&work_id=176 Dima Wannous short story ''Sahar,'' translated from Arabic by Ghenwa Hayek], at Banipal magazine
{{Beirut39}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wannous, Dima}} Category:1982 births Category:20th-century novelists Category:20th-century Syrian translators Category:20th-century short story writers Category:20th-century Syrian women writers Category:21st-century Syrian women writers Category:21st-century Syrian writers Category:Syrian women novelists Category:Syrian novelists Category:Syrian women short story writers Category:Syrian short story writers Category:Writers from Damascus Category:Living people Category:Damascus University alumni Category:University of Paris alumni Category:Syrian Alawites