Elias Khoury

A public intellectual who wrote novels, essays, and reportage, Elias Khoury (1948 - 2024) led an exceptionally rich life. Khoury was an unflagging champion of the Palestinian people and spoke out against dictatorships in the Arab world and beyond. In his youth, he cared for Palestinian refugees in refugee camps outside of Amman, and later joined the Fatah. Khoury is one of the most beloved and respected practitioners of Arabic literature. For many readers, his novel Gate of the Sun (translated by Humphrey Davies) is a life-changing work. For many years Khoury served as the editor of the cultural supplement of one of Lebanon’s major newspapers, Al-Nahar, where he created a platform for political dialogue around the reconstruction of Lebanon after the civil war. During the reign of Bashar al-Assad, Khoury published the writings of Syrian dissident intellectuals in Al-Nahar.

He was awarded the Palestine Prize for Gate of the Sun, which was named Best Book of the Year by Le Monde Diplomatique, The Christian Science Monitor, and The San Francisco Chronicle, and a Notable Book by The New York Times. Khoury’s Yalo, White Masks, Little Mountain, The Journey of Little Gandhi, and City Gates are also available in English. Khoury is a Global Distinguished Professor of Middle Eastern and Arabic Studies at New York University, and has taught at Columbia University, the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, and the Lebanese American University. As Though She Were Sleeping received France’s inaugural Arabic Novel Prize.

Read more about the life of Elias Khoury here: https://archipelagobooks.org/honoring-elias-khoury/