The internet search giant "Google" celebrated the birthday of the late Egyptian writer Alifa Rifaat on Saturday, who was known for her many bold stories. Google featured a drawing of the late Egyptian writer holding a pen on its homepage in the Arab region.
Alifa Rifaat was born on June 5, 1930, in Cairo, Egypt, and her real name was "Fatima Abdullah Rifaat." She was known as the "Princess of Protest Literature" as her short stories challenged the social traditions imposed on female relationships, sexuality, and emotional struggles, reflecting the life of women in rural Egypt.
Rifaat wrote her first story about a village her family visited in the summer when she was only 9 years old. Although her older sister criticized her writing, the Egyptian writer held on to her dreams and continued to write, attending Cairo University to study English in the late 1940s, despite her family's initial objections.
Between 1955 and 1965, she published her works under a pseudonym. Her sister was not the only one who tried to silence her; her husband also refused to help her and prevented her from publishing her works for over a decade.
In the early 1970s, Alifa Rifaat began writing stories again, and in 1983, she published a collection titled "The Distant View of the Minaret," which contained 15 fictional stories addressing taboo subjects. Her works have been translated into several foreign languages, including English, German, Swedish, and Dutch, with her famous story "My Unknown World" contributing to her international recognition.
She passed away on January 4, 1996, in Cairo, Egypt.
