The Mother of All Sins | Hanan al-Shaykh | Granta Magazine

The Mother of All Sins

Hanan al-Shaykh

Translated by Wiam El-Tamami

‘Loving life is the mother of all sins.’

Hanan al-Shaykh

Hanan al-Shaykh is a Lebanese author of contemporary Arab women’s literature. A novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, she is one of the leading women writers in the Arab world. Her stories deal with women's role in society, the relationship between the sexes, and the institution of marriage. Her novels have been translated into multiple languages.

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Translated by Wiam El-Tamami

Wiam El-Tamami is a writer, translator and editor. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Granta, Freeman’s, Social Movement Studies, Jadaliyya, Banipal, Ploughshares Solos and Craft. She won the 2011 Harvill Secker Translation Prize and was a finalist for the 2023 Disquiet Prize.

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