Joumana Haddad

Joumana Haddad (Arabic: جمانة حداد‎‎) (born Salloum; December 6, 1970 in Beirut) is a Lebanese poet, translator, journalist and women's rights activist.^[1] She has been selected as one of the world’s 100 most powerful Arab women for three years in a row by Arabian Business Magazine (she came in position 36 in 2016), for her cultural and social activism.^[2] She is founder of Jasad, a quarterly Arabic-language magazine.

Career

She has already published several poetry collections, widely acclaimed by critics. Her books have been translated to many languages and published abroad.

Speaking seven languages, Haddad is a polyglot and has written books in different languages, and has also published several works of translation, including an anthology of Lebanese modern poetry in Spanish, published in Spain as well as in many Latin American countries, and an anthology of 150 poets who committed suicide in the 20th century.

She interviewed many international writers, such as Umberto Eco, Paul Auster, Jose Saramago, Peter Handke, Elfriede Jelinek, and others.

Joumana Haddad is on the Board^[3] of Directors of DOT Lebanon (an NGO targeting the economic empowerment of women in rural areas through ICT/ information and communication technology literacy), as well as on the Board^[4] of Advisors of MARCH Lebanon (an NGO fighting censorship and raising awareness about the right of free expression).

She’s been the administrator of the prestigious Arab literary prize IPAF or the Arab Booker Prize, from 2007 till 2011.

Joumana Haddad has been awarded the Arab Press Prize in 2006.

In 2009, she co-wrote and acted in a movie by Lebanese filmmaker Jocelyne Saab ("What's going on?").^[5] She also had an appearance in a documentary by filmmaker Nasri Hajjaj, about Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

Joumana Haddad on the set of "What's going on?" in June 2009

In October 2009, she has been chosen as one of the 39 most interesting Arab writers under 39.^[6]

In November 2009, she won the International Prize North South for poetry, of the Pescarabruzzo Foundation in Italy.^[7] The winner of the novel prize was Austrian writer Peter Handke.

In February 2010, she won the Blue Metropolis Al Majidi Ibn Dhaher Arab Literary Prize^[8]

In August 2010, she received the Rodolfo Gentili Prize in Porto Recanati, Italy.^[9]

In November 2012, she received the Cutuli Prize for journalism in Catania, Italy.^[10]

In July 2013, she was appointed honorary ambassador for culture and human rights for the city of Naples in the Mediterranean by the mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris.^[11]

In February 2014, she was awarded the "Career Poetry Prize" by the Archicultura Foundation in Acquiterme, Italy.^[12]

As of February 2012, Joumana also teaches creative writing at the Lebanese American University in Beirut.^[13]

In addition, she is a performer and a collage artist.

Haddad's magazine is the feature of a 2013 film by Amanda Homsi-Ottosson, Jasad & The Queen of Contradictions, a Women Make Movies release.^[14]

Bibliography

Bibliography in Arabic

• Invitation to a secret feast, poetry, (2008)
• Two hands to the abyss, poetry, (2000)
• I did not sin enough, selected poems, (2003)
• Lilith's Return, poetry, (2004)
• The panther hidden at the base of her shoulders, selected poems, (2006)
• In the company of the fire thieves, Conversations with international writers, (2006)
• Death will come and it will have your eyes, Anthology of 150 poets who committed suicide, (2007)
• Bad habits, selected poems, (2007)
• Mirrors of the passers by, poetry, (2008)
• Geology of the I, poetry, (2012)^[15]

Bibliography and translations of her books in English

• Invitation to a Secret Feast, poetry, 2008, Tupelo Press, Vermont, USA.
• Madinah, city stories from the Middle East, anthology, 2008, "Comma Press", Manchester, UK.^[16]
• I Killed Scheherazade, Essay, 2010, "Saqi Books", London, UK.^[17] The book has been translated to French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Croatian, Norwegian, Romanian and Arabic.^[18]
• Superman is an Arab, Essay, 2012, "Westbourne Press", London, UK.^[19] The book has been translated to French, Italian, Spanish, Croatian and Arabic.

Bibliography in Italian

• Le sette vite di Luca, Children's literature, 2011, Mondadori Junior, Milan, Italy.^[20]

Bibliography in Spanish

• Allí donde el río se incendia, Antología poética, 2005, Ediciones De Aquí, Málaga, Espana, 2006, Fundación Editorial El Perro y la Rana, Caracas, Venezuela.

Bibliography in French

• Le temps d'un rêve, Poésie, (1995)
• Les amants ne devraient porter que des mocassins, littérature érotique, 2010, Editions Humus.^[21]

Translations into other languages

Some of Joumana Haddad's books

• Damit ich abreisen kann, 2005, Lisan Verlag, Basel, Switzerland.
• Cuando me hice fruta, 2006, Monte Ávila Editores, Caracas, Venezuela.
• El retorno de Lilith, 2007, Editorial Praxis, Mexico, Mexico/ 2010, Diputacion Provincial de Malaga, Mar Remoto, Spain.^[22]
• Le retour de Lilith, 2007, Editions L’Inventaire, Paris, France/ 2011, Editions Actes Sud, Paris, France.
• Liliths Wiederkehr, 2008, Verlag Hans Schiler, Berlin, Germany.
• Adrenalina, 2009, "Edizioni del Leone", Venice, Italy.^[23]
• Il ritorno di Lilith, 2010, "Edizioni l'Asino d'Oro", Rome, Italy.^[24]
• Lilits återkomst, 2010, Bokförlaget Tranan, Stockholm, Sweden.^[25]
• Espejos de las fugaces, 2010, "Vaso Roto ediciones", Mexico.^[26]
• Miroirs des passantes dans le songe, 2010, « Al Dante », Paris, France.^[27]
• Las siete vidas de Luca, Literatura infantil, 2011, Vaso Roto, México, México.^[28]
• Los amantes deberían llevar solo mocasines, Literatura erótica, 2011, Vaso Roto, México, México.^[29]

Personal life

Haddad was born into a conservative Christian Maronite family. Her mother is of Armenian extraction. At the age of 19 she married a hotelier, whose conservative views made him uncomfortable with Haddad's work. The marriage lasted for a decade. He converted to the Syriac Orthodox Church in order to be granted a divorce from Haddad. She is still on amicable terms with her first husband. She has two sons from her first marriage. Haddad has stated that the main motive behind her marriage was getting away from her strict parental environment. She has remarried to fellow poet who is 20 years her senior. Currently she lives in Beirut with her two sons. She is a staunch atheist and critic of organised religion.^{[30][31][32][33]}

See also

• Randa Kassis
• Omar Hanoune
• Lina Ben Mhenni
• Beirut

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joumana Haddad.

External links

• Her website
• The official website of JASAD magazine
• Interview with Joumana Haddad: "Eroticism is the Pulse of Life"
• Rawafed
• Jasad & The Queen of Contradictions at Women Make Movies