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Ismail Fahd Ismail
Ismail Fahd Ismail or Ismāʿīl Fahd Ismāʿīl (Arabic: نجيبإسماعيل فهد إسماعيل, IPA: [ʔɪs.maːˈʕiːl fad ʔɪs.maːˈʕiːl]; 1940 – 25 September 2018) was an Iraqi-Kuwaiti novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. Acclaimed as one of the most significant and prolific writers in the history of Kuwait, he authored over twenty novels, numerous short story collections, and critical publications.
Two of his works were shortlisted for the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction:
Ismail Fahd Ismail was born in 1940 in the small village of Al-Sabiliat, near Basra in Iraq, where he spent his childhood and early years. In the 1950s, he began working as a teacher in Basra.
The late 1950s and 1960s in Iraq were marked by extreme political instability, characterized by violent coups d'état and severe political repression as Arab nationalists and the Ba'ath Party vied for power (the latter had a short-lived government experience following the Ramadan Revolution of 1963, terminated by a second coup d'état led by Abdul Salam Arif). This volatile environment directly led to Ismail Fahd Ismail's imprisonment and eventual flight to Kuwait in 1967.
After settling in Kuwait, he graduated in 1976 from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts with a degree in Drama and Literary Criticism. He worked in the Kuwaiti public administration at the Ministry of Education until the early 1980s, when he retired to establish his own small literary business.
He died at the age of 78 in Kuwait City on September 25, 2018, and was buried in the Sulaibikhat Cemetery.
Ismail Fahd Ismail is considered one of the pioneers of the novel genre in Kuwaiti literature, alongside contemporaries like Laila al-Othman and Farhan Rashid Al-Farhan. At that time the Kuwait had little or no literary production, being one of the Arabic countries where the Nahda came with some delay if compared to the neighbours. Some scholars compare his narrative depth and style to those of Egyptian literary giants Naguib Mahfouz and Tawfiq al-Hakim. He himself admitted to a strong influence from Dostoevsky, specifically citing The Brothers Karamazov. His work also served as an inspiration for a younger generation of Kuwaiti writers, such as Taleb Alrefai.
His literary style often incorporates elements of his first love, cinema, as he mentioned in interviews. His novels were the result of extensive research, embedding the linguistic characteristics of the people and places he described, and drawing on historical events and individuals he encountered. He was also the founder and leader of the literary circle, the Multaqa al-thulatha (The Tuesday's Meetings), held in his Kuwait City office.
Ismail Fahd Ismail
Ismail Fahd Ismail or Ismāʿīl Fahd Ismāʿīl (Arabic: نجيبإسماعيل فهد إسماعيل, IPA: [ʔɪs.maːˈʕiːl fad ʔɪs.maːˈʕiːl]; 1940 – 25 September 2018) was an Iraqi-Kuwaiti novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. Acclaimed as one of the most significant and prolific writers in the history of Kuwait, he authored over twenty novels, numerous short story collections, and critical publications.
Two of his works were shortlisted for the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction:
Ismail Fahd Ismail was born in 1940 in the small village of Al-Sabiliat, near Basra in Iraq, where he spent his childhood and early years. In the 1950s, he began working as a teacher in Basra.
The late 1950s and 1960s in Iraq were marked by extreme political instability, characterized by violent coups d'état and severe political repression as Arab nationalists and the Ba'ath Party vied for power (the latter had a short-lived government experience following the Ramadan Revolution of 1963, terminated by a second coup d'état led by Abdul Salam Arif). This volatile environment directly led to Ismail Fahd Ismail's imprisonment and eventual flight to Kuwait in 1967.
After settling in Kuwait, he graduated in 1976 from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts with a degree in Drama and Literary Criticism. He worked in the Kuwaiti public administration at the Ministry of Education until the early 1980s, when he retired to establish his own small literary business.
He died at the age of 78 in Kuwait City on September 25, 2018, and was buried in the Sulaibikhat Cemetery.
Ismail Fahd Ismail is considered one of the pioneers of the novel genre in Kuwaiti literature, alongside contemporaries like Laila al-Othman and Farhan Rashid Al-Farhan. At that time the Kuwait had little or no literary production, being one of the Arabic countries where the Nahda came with some delay if compared to the neighbours. Some scholars compare his narrative depth and style to those of Egyptian literary giants Naguib Mahfouz and Tawfiq al-Hakim. He himself admitted to a strong influence from Dostoevsky, specifically citing The Brothers Karamazov. His work also served as an inspiration for a younger generation of Kuwaiti writers, such as Taleb Alrefai.
His literary style often incorporates elements of his first love, cinema, as he mentioned in interviews. His novels were the result of extensive research, embedding the linguistic characteristics of the people and places he described, and drawing on historical events and individuals he encountered. He was also the founder and leader of the literary circle, the Multaqa al-thulatha (The Tuesday's Meetings), held in his Kuwait City office.