Hanan Al-Sheikh is a Lebanese novelist who has gained both Arab and international reputations from her work which has been translated into many languages. Her novels are based on real life and are concerned with ordinary people in a variety of usual and unusual situations. She writes about pain, compulsion war, love and crises. Sayidaty was happy to meet and interview her.

What is your relationship to Beirut which has a special attraction for many writers?

My family is from southern Lebanon but I was born in Beirut. When I first opened my eyes, I saw small villages every where which in those days made up Beirut. The city does have a special magic that attracts many different kinds of people. To me, the city means the sea and the port. In a way, everything in my Beirut leads to the big mosque in the city where my father used to pray when I was a child.

What about your novel 'Bareed Beirut'?

It is an attempt to bring the old city to life through my memories.

You mean there is a longing for old Beirut in the novel?

Yes. I was concerned about the changes in the city, especially during the war and how the city was divided into east and west. Through the novel, I was searching for a childhood. The novel was asking the questions of war through a child. There are some other novels that did not get as much attention and publicity - 'Misk Al-Ghazal' and 'Hekayat Zahra.'

But Hekayat Zahra was very popular in Arabic.

It is one of my early novels which dealt with the civil war in Lebanon. I wrote it during the war and people at the time were shocked that war had actually begun. They could not believe it. The dialogue was simple and written in a southern Lebanese accent since it was a novel set in southern Lebanon.

It has been said that you were a girl from a small village who moved into the great world and broke with tradition. Did you try to break with tradition and shatter cultural barriers in your writings?

Well, my family was conservative and my father was religious. He was not, however, intolerant or fanatic. My brothers were normally left-wingers and they loved to discuss politics as well as general issues. In other words, I grew up in an environment where discussions were open and free. That probably led to my questioning of certain things in my life and work.

Did you set out to write about things which are normally not spoken about?

I think what motivated me to write about those things were war, fear, anger and love. At this point, I began writing Hekayat Zahra. I wanted to express something that I simultaneously love and hate - such as my environment and Beirut the city that I love in peace and Beirut that I hate in times of war and destruction.

In other words, your writing is based in reality?

Yes. I wrote about reality and how I reacted to it. I have written about my village in Beirut, my life in Saudi Arabia, Cairo and London. The reality of life is that it is unfair to women and, honestly, unfair to men as well.

In writings about your work, some have described you as bold.

The most important thing in good writing is to be bold. If we are honest, we are usually also seen as bold but that is the way things are. We must not fear boldness any more than we should fear craftsmanship in our work. There are many wonderful and courageous writers whom I admire such as Najeeb Mahfooz, Suhail Idrees and Al-Tayeb Saleh who write with beauty, precision and genuine artistic feeling. There are people who say I write seeking fame but readers can quickly distinguish a good novel from a bad one.

In your work there are many Gulf, and other, Arabs which give a certain flavor. How did that come about?

I lived in Saudi Arabia for eight years and learned about people there and how they live and think. When I left Lebanon, I felt that I was an Arab and that encompassed the entire Arab world. In The Desert Rose and Only in London, I wrote about the Gulf. I have also written about Morocco and when I write about a place, I feel that I belong to it.

Most of your work focuses on women, doesn't it?

Yes, it does. Especially in short stories such as Hekayat Zahra. In Misk Al-Ghazal, on the other hand, the man is the one who makes the rules. In all cases, I am sympathetic to women. In my writings, I want to expose the injustice that women experience in their daily lives.

Do you think that there is a need for women to write?

Yes, I do. Women should write novels. They should have a dialogue with society and with tradition. We need to hear that dialogue and their opinions. I am happy when my work is translated because I feel the world will learn something about us Arabs and that learning is very important.