Salma Khadra Jayyusi ( ar, سلمى الخضراء الجيوسي; born 1926 or 1927) is a Palestinian poet, writer, translator and anthologist. She is the founder and director of the

Project of Translation from Arabic The Project of Translation from Arabic (or PROTA) is an academic project initiated by Dr Salma Khadra Jayyusi in 1980 in order to translate, and publish, works of Arabic literature into the English language. The stated goal of PROTA is "''the disse ...

(PROTA), which aims to provide translation of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / 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'', which is derived from ...

into English.

Life

Salma Khadra Jayyusi was born in

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

to a Palestinian father, the

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...

Subhi al-Khadra, and a Lebanese mother. Attending secondary school in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, she studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

and

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the American University of Beirut. She married a Jordanian diplomat, with whom she travelled and raised three children.Personality of the Month: Salma Khadra Jayyusi
''This Week in Palestine'', Issue No. 114, October 2007. Accessed 11 September 2012. In 1960, she published her first poetry collection, ''Return from the Dreamy Fountain''. In 1970, she received her PhD on Arabic literature from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

. She taught at the

University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) ( ar, جامعة الخرطوم) is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 19 ...

from 1970 to 1973 and at the universities of Algiers and Constantine from 1973 to 1975. In 1973, she was invited by The

Middle East Studies Association of North America Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encoura ...

(MESA) invited her for a lecture tour of Canada and the US, on a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the dea ...

Fellowship, in 1973. In 1975, the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of D ...

invited her to return as a visiting professor of Arabic literature, and since then she has been based at various universities in the United States. To encourage the wider dissemination of Arabic literature and culture, Jayyusi founded the

in 1980, and later founded East-West Nexus.

Works

* ''Trends and Movements in Modern Arabic Poetry'', 2 vols, 1977 * (ed.) ''Modern Arabic poetry: an anthology'', 1987 * (ed.) ''The Literature of modern Arabia: an anthology'', Columbia University Press, 1988 * (ed.) ''Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature'', Columbia University Press, 1992 * (ed.) ''The Legacy of Muslim Spain'', 2 vols, 1992 * (ed.) ''Modern Arabic drama: an anthology'', 1995 * (tr. with Trevor LeGassick) The Secret life of Saeed: the Pessoptimist'' by Emile Habibi, 2002. * (ed.) ''Short Arabic plays: an anthology'', 2003. * (ed.) ''Modern Arabic fiction: an anthology'', 2004. * (ed.) ''Beyond the dunes: an anthology of modern Saudi literature'', 2005 * (ed.) ''Human rights in Arab thought: a reader'', 2009 * (ed.) ''Classical Arabic stories: an anthology'', 2010.

Awards

*2006

Al Owais Award The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards (or Al Owais Awards; ar, جائزة سلطان بن علي العويس) are a biannual prize for literary and cultural achievement in the Arab world.Sheikh Zayed Book Award The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award begun in the UAE. It is presented yearly to "Arab writers, intellectuals, publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab ...

: Cultural Personality of the Year

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayyusi, Salma Khadra 1920s births Living people People from Safed 20th-century Palestinian poets 20th-century Jordanian poets Arabic–English translators Alumni of the University of London University of Khartoum faculty Women anthologists Palestinian women writers 21st-century Palestinian poets Palestinian women poets 20th-century Palestinian women writers 21st-century Palestinian women writers Palestinian poets 21st-century Jordanian poets