Maria Dadouch (; born 1970 in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

) is a Syrian literary writer,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and novelist. She has written both Arabic adult novels as well as numerous books for children. Her work has been honored with several awards for

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

, including the Katara Prize for

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

novels. Some of her books, such as ''Omar and Oliver'' and ''The Fly Over the Pond'', have been published in English.

Life and career

Dadouch graduated from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

in Los Angeles (ULSC) earning a degree in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

in 2015. In the beginning of her career, Dadouch had helped in establishing ''Fulla'' teenage magazine in 2005, for which she wrote articles and stories. She also wrote for the TV Arabic comedy series ''Maraya''. Dadouch moved to the United States when the war in Syria started in 2011. Since 2015, she has published both novels for adults as well as numerous books for children, some of which were translated into English. In 2017, arts organization

Art OMI Art Omi, formerly Omi International Arts Center, is a non-profit international arts organization located in Columbia County in Ghent, New York. The organization provides residencies for writers, artists, architects, musicians, dancers and chore ...

invited her for their writing residency. Dadouch has also served as an instructor in creative writing courses, sponsored, for example, by the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature and the Arabic

MOOC A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the World Wide Web, Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and p ...

website '' Edraak''. For the Edtech company Asafeer, which produced

open-access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

-themed illustrated

Ebooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

for Arab children and schools, Dadouch created a creative writing program. Twenty-four mainly women authors taking part in this program wrote 100 storybooks for the

Global Digital Library Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

's No Lost Generation prize.

Works

Novels

* ''The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Mug With a Lid'', English original, 2015 * ''The Bad White'' (original title: Al Zeft Al Abyad), 2019 * ''The Planet of Uncertainties'' (original title: Kawkab Al La Maqoul), 2019 * ''I Want Golden Eyes'' (original title: Ureed Ayunan Thahabiya), 2019 * ''The Heart Which Is Totally Behind the Rib'' (original title: Al Qalb Al Lathi Khalfa Al Deel' Tamaman), 2020

Children's books

* ''The Puzzle of the Wooden Door'' (original title: Lugz Al Bab Al Khashabi), 2016 * ''The Secret of the Magical Growth'' (original title: Ser Al Numu Al Sehri), 2017 * ''I Want Another Mum'' (original title: Ureed Uman Othra), 2017 * ''SemSem Dot Com'', 2018 * ''Karma Karamila – Who Took My Apricot Pen?'' (original title: Karma Karamila – Man Akhatha Qalami Al Meshmeshi?), ''2018'' * ''Me and Him'' (original title: Ana wa Howa), 2018 * ''Karma Karamila – The Girl of the Golden Lira'' (original title: Karma Karamila – Fatat Al Leera Al Thahabia), 2018 * ''Karma Karamila – A Big Problem'' (original title: Karma Karmila – Mushkeela Kabeera), 2018 * ''Do You Like the Scheme With the Narwhal'' (original title: Hal Yarooq Laka Al Mukhatat Ma'a Al Muraqat?), 2018 * ''Karma Karamila – I Don't Want to Go to the Pool'' (original title: Karma Karamila – La Ureed Al Thahab Ela Al Masbah), 2019 * ''One Evaporated ... Two You Are a Princess'' (original title: Wahad Tabkhera ... Ethnan Anti Ameera), 2019 * ''What Do Is Yasser Hiding?'' (original title: Matha Yukhfi Yasser?", 2020 * ''Omar and Oliver'' (original title: Omar wa Oliver) * ''Gad and the Magic Grape Seed'' (original title: Gad Wa Buthoor Al Enab Al Seheria) * ''The Diary of a Martian Boy'' (original title: Muthakarat Fata Mareekhi) * ''Zakadam Can't Dance'' (original title: Zakadam La Youmkenuhu Al Raqs) * ''Standing Hairdos Island'' (original title: Jazeerat Al Tasreehat Al Waqeefa) * ''Mama Bot's Private Time'' (original title: Waqat Mama Bot Al Khas) * ''The Shuttle of Eternal Youth'' (original title: Mukawak Al Shabab Al Daeem) * ''The Adventure of a Frog who Was a Prince'' (original title: Muqaamart Deefdaa Kana Ameeran) * ''A Mug With A Lid: Syrians and the Sea,'' 2015 * ''A Fly Over a Pond''

Awards

Dadouch has been honored with several awards: * 2018: the

Katara Prize for Arabic Novel The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is an Arabic literary prize based in Qatar. It was established in 2014 by the Doha-based Katara Cultural Village. The total prize pool is $650,000 and the main prize $200,000, making it one of the richest liter ...

for her book "The Planet of Uncertainties". * 2019: the Shoman Prize for Science Fiction for her novel "I Want Golden Eyes" * 2020: the Khalifa Award for Education for her novel "The Heart is Right Behind the Rib". * 2020: the Arab Publishers Forum Prize for her book "I and Him". * 2021:

Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature is an Arabic literary award for children's literature. It was established in 2009 by the Arab Children's Book Publisher’s Forum. It is sponsored by Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qas ...

for her picture book ''My Pants are short on me''

References