Nimah Ismail Nawwab is a Saudi Arabian poet, activist, photographer and writer. ^[1]

Biography

Nimah Ismail Nawwab was born in Malaysia and is of Saudi Arabian descent. She comes from a line of Meccan scholars. ^[2] Her father is Ismail I. Nawwab, a former professor of linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. ^{[3] [4]} Nawwab grew up speaking three languages and her father read the Quran, Arabic poetry, and the plays of William Shakespeare to her. ^[4] She previously worked at Aramco. ^[3]

She was inspired to write poetry after meeting Naomi Shihab Nye. Her first internationally published poem was on the murder of Palestinian child Muhammad al-Durrah. ^[5] Her earliest poetry focused on issues in Palestine and Iraq. ^[4] Nawwab writes in English and her poetry discusses youth issues, women's issues, sexism, religion, and Saudi culture and society. ^{[6] [7] [4]}

Her second book Canvas of the Soul: Mystic Poems from the Heartland of Arabia, is inspired by Sufism and features spiritual themes. ^{[8] [4]} Her work has also been featured in Gathering the Tide: An Anthology of Contemporary Arabian Gulf Poetry. ^[9]

Her photography has been featured in Aramco World and Theodore Friend's book Woman, Man, and God in Modern Islam. ^[10] Nawwab is the first Saudi woman poet to be published in the United States. ^{[2] [6]} She is also the first Saudi poet to publicly sign their work. ^{[11] [10]}

Works

Books

• The Unfurling (2004, Selwa Press)
• Canvas of the Soul: Mystic Poems from the Heartland of Arabia (2012, Tughra Books) ^[12]

Selections

• Gathering the Tide: An Anthology of Contemporary Arabian Gulf Poetry (Ithaca Press, 2011) ^[9]

References