Paula Haydar (born 1965) is an American academic and translator. She has a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

and an MFA in

Literary translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. She won an Arkansas Arabic Translation Prize for her translation of Elias Khoury's ''The Kingdom of Strangers''. Her work has appeared in ''

Banipal ''Banipal'' is an independent literary magazine dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Arab literature through translations in English. It was founded in London in 1998 by Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon. The magazine is published three ti ...

'' magazine and she has translated the literary work of

Jabbour Douaihy Jabbour Douaihy (; 1949 – 23 June 2021) was a critically-acclaimed Lebanese writer, translator, and professor of literature. His novels were nominated four times for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, and he has also published transl ...

, Rachid Al-Daif, and others.

Education

Haydar obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in physics in 1987 and an

M.Ed The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

in 1991. She then earned a MFA in literary translation from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

in 1998. She received a

, from the

in 2014.

Career

Haydar taught Arabic at the University of Massachusetts before joining the faculty at the university of Arkansas in 2006. She works in the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures as an Assistant Professor of Arabic. She won the Arkansas Arabic Translation Prize for her translation of Elias Khoury's ''The Kingdom of Strangers''. Her work has appeared in two issues of ''

'' magazine (1998, 2008). Paula Haydar's English translation of the novel '' June Rain'' earned her second place for the 2014 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize. The Beirut Daily Star also recognized the translation in a year-end book review list of the six Top Middle East Novels of 2014 in translation. Haydar has translated novels, short stories, and poetry from Arabic to English. Her book length translations include: * ''The Kingdom of Strangers'' by

Elias Khoury Elias Khoury (; 12 July 1948 – 15 September 2024) was a Lebanese novelist and advocate of the Palestinian cause. His novels and literary criticism have been translated into several languages. In 2000, he won the Prize of Palestine for his bo ...

(1996) * ''Learning English'' by Rachid Al-Daif (1998) * ''This Side of Innocence'' by Rachid Al-Daif (2001) * ''June Rain'' by

(2006) * ''Touch'' by

Adania Shibli Adania Shibli () is a Palestinian author and essayist. She is mainly known for the 2020 translation of her 2017 novel '' Minor Detail'' into English by Elisabeth Jaquette, as well as its 2022 translation into German by Günther Orth, which for ...

(2013)(2007) * ''The End of Spring'' by

Sahar Khalifeh Sahar Khalifeh (; born 1941) is a Palestinians, Palestinian writer. She has written eleven novels, which have been translated into English, French, Hebrew, German, Spanish, and many other languages. One of her best-known works is the novel ''Wil ...

(2008) * ''City Gates'' by Elias Khoury (also translated as ''Gates of the City'') (2007) * ''The Journey of Little Gandhi'', by Elias Khoury (2009)

Personal life

She is married to fellow academic Adnan Haydar and lives in

Fayetteville Fayetteville may refer to: *Fayetteville, Alabama *Fayetteville, Arkansas ** The Fayetteville Formation *Fayetteville, Georgia *Fayetteville, Illinois *Fayetteville, Indiana *Fayetteville, Washington County, Indiana *Fayetteville, Missouri *Fayette ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Their son Fuad "Kikko" Haydar played basketball for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haydar, Paula Arabic–English translators Living people University of Arkansas faculty 1965 births

Education

Career

Personal life

See also

References