Samar Yazbek

Samar Yazbek () is a Syrian writer and journalist. She was born in Jableh, Syria, near Latakia, in 1970, and studied Arabic literature at Latakia university. She has written in a wide variety of genres - novels, short stories, film scripts, television dramas, film and TV criticism, literary narratives.
Biography.
In 2010, Yazbek was selected as one of the 39 most promising authors under the age of 40, by Beirut39, a contest organized by the Hay Festival. In 2011, she took part in the popular uprising against the Assad regime, and was forced to exile a few months later. In 2012, she was chosen for the prestigious PEN/Pinter Prize "International writer of courage", in recognition of her book A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution. She was also awarded the Swedish Tucholsky Prize, and the Dutch Oxfam/PEN, in the same year. In 2016 Yazbek's literary narrative The Crossing was awarded the prestigious French “Best Foreign Book” prize.
She also participated in the Syrian cultural caravan, which was an artistic and cultural movement led by Syrian artists that started with a project called "Freedom for the Syrian People" and involved a road trip across Europe.
Works.
Yazbek has been a prominent voice in support of human rights and more specifically women's rights in Syria. In 2012, she launched Women Now for Development, an NGO based in France that aims at empowering Syrian women economically and socially.