Samihah Kharis

Samihah Kharis (born 16 August 1956) is a Jordanian novelist, journalist and translator. She was born in Amman in 1956, and completed her primary and secondary school education in Qatar and Sudan, respectively, and her university education in Egypt. For around 20 years, Kharis held a number of positions in the field of journalism, including editor-in-chief for Hatem magazine, and writer for Al-Ittihad newspaper, among many other newspapers. She served as one of the board members of the Radio and Television Department and PEN International, and one of the founders of Emirates Writers Union. She has published over 15 literary works, and was nominated for a number of literary prizes, most notably, Katara Prize for Arabic Novel in 2017.
Education.
She completed her primary education and a part of her secondary education in Qatar. Due to the nature of her father's diplomatic post, Kharis resumed her secondary education in Sudan, and, in 1973, graduated from the literary branch of Khartoum Old High Secondary School for Girls. In 1978, she obtained her bachelor's degree in Sociology from Cairo University in Egypt. She has high proficiency in the Arabic and English languages.
Career.
Kharis first started working in the field of journalism, and wrote for some of the well-known Arab newspapers, including Al-Ittihad Emirati newspaper for over 15 years, namely from 1981 to 1998, Al-Dustour daily Egyptian newspaper in 1998, and Al Ra'i Jordanian newspaper. A year later, she was appointed director of the Cultural Department of Al Ra'i newspaper, and editor-in-chief of Hatem, which is a children's magazine issued by the newspaper. In 2009, she served as a Board member of the Radio and Television Department and, in 2010, of Jordan News Agency (Petra). In addition, she was a member of many cultural associations and bodies, including the Jordanian Writers Association, Jordan Press Association and PEN International. Kharis is also one of the founding members of Emirates Writers Union.
During her period of work in the field of literature, Kharis published novels, wrote television and radio scripts, and translated a selection of Jordanian stories into English. Her literary works gained a wide recognition; some of which are novels and were translated, such as “"The Notebook of Floods"” into German and Spanish, and “"The Plate"” into German, while others are literary writings featured in Arab and Jordanian newspapers. In the years 2002 and 2003, her novels, “"The Tree of Leopards",” “"Poppy"” and “"The Notebook of Floods",” were broadcast by Jordan Radio and Television Corporation as a radio show. Another novel, “"Crimea",” was aired as a television show under the name, “"The Night and the Dessert".” Kharis was awarded at the Cairo Festival for Radio and Television for several years for many of her novels, including “"The Tree of Leopards",” “"Poppy"” and “"Crimea".”