Spôjmaï Raouf Zariâb (

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

: سپوژمی زریاب; born 1949, some sources say 1952) is an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

-born short story writer. Her name also appears as Spozhmai Zaryab, and surname appears as Zaryab.

Biography

She was born in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

and was educated at

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; ) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd District of the capital Kabul near the Ministry of Higher Education. It was founded in 1931 by King Mohammed Nadir Shah, wh ...

, at the École des Beaux-Arts in Kabul and at

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

in France. She married Rahnaward Zaryab, also a writer. During the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n occupation of her country, she worked as a translator at the French embassy. In 1991, she left Afghanistan for exile at

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in France. Her works appeared in newspapers and magazines in Afghanistan before the Afghan civil war and in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Zariâb writes in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. Zariâb was one of the first modern Afghan writers to have her works translated into

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. The following works have appeared in translation: * ''Ces murs qui nous écoutent'' (2000) * ''La plaine de Caïn'' (1988, 2001) * ''Dessine-moi un coq'' (2003) * ''Les demeures sans nom'' (2010) Some of her stories have appeared in translation in the

UNESCO Courier ''UNESCO Courier'' is the main magazine published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It has the largest and widest-ranging readership of all the journals published by the United Nations and its spe ...

: * ''Babylon reconquered'' (2009) * ''The man from Kabul'' (2008)

References

1949 births Living people Afghan writers Afghan women short story writers Afghan short story writers 20th-century Afghan women writers 21st-century Afghan women writers 20th-century Afghan writers 21st-century Afghan writers {{Afghanistan-writer-stub