Dima Wannous

Dima Wannous (Arabic: ديمة ونوس‎) (born in Damascus in 1982) is a Syrian writer and translator.[1] She studied French literature at Damascus University and the Sorbonne.[2] She also studied translation in France and has lived in Beirut, where she worked for the newspapers Al-Hayat and As-Safir. She has also worked for broadcast media (radio and TV).

She caught the eye of literary critics with Tafasil (Details), a short story collection released in 2007, which describes the Syrian society focussing on different characters with "ironic-grotesque overtones" and showing how they bow to power.[3] She published her debut novel Kursi (The Chair) in 2008. She was named as one of the Beirut39, a group of 39 Arab writers under the age of 40 chosen through a contest organised by Banipal magazine and the Hay Festival.[4] Her 2017 novel Kha'ifoun (The Frightened Ones), describes the life of a young woman in Damascus during the civil war who receives a manuscript by a former lover who fled to Germany. The book was shortlisted for the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction[5] and has been translated into English, German, Dutch, Spanish and Turkish. Her narrative style has been described by critics as "sober and often painfully precise".[6]

Dima is the daughter of Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous.[7] She is married to the Syrian journalist Ibrahim Hamidi[8] and lives with him in London.[9]