Hessa Al-Awadi


Hessa or Hissa Al-Awadi is a Qatari poet and short story writer.

Life

Born in Doha, Al-Awadi studied radio and television at Cairo University from 1984 to 1985, before studying at the State University of New York. She worked as an editor for Hamad and Sabar magazines. She also worked as head of family programming for Qatar Television, and was an editor for 'Iftah ya simsim'.
Al Awadi has published several volumes of poetry, and illustrated children's books of poetry and short stories. Her work has appeared in both English and Arabic. Her adult short stories criticise marriage as an institution, viewing it as a vehicle of male control of women's bodies.
In 2021 she wrote lyrics for an operetta, 'A Folktale in Love of the Nation, directed by artist Shuail al-Kuwari.

Works

Poetry

Kalimat al-lahn al-awwal . Doha: Ministry of Information, Department of Culture and Arts, 1988Milad. Qatar, 1998.

Short stories

Euyun La Taerif Alghufran. Beirut: Hassan Modern Library, 2012.

Children's books

Unshudati 1 . 1983.Unshudati 2 . Qatar: Qatar National Press, 1987.al-Shams la ghazal na'ima . 1995.Hawl ma'idat al-ahlam . Beirut: Dar al-'Awda, 1996.Fi daw' al-qamar 1996.Nura wa rasa al-hinna . Beirut: Dar-'Awda, 1996.Yasamin. Yasamin. 1996.al-Ghazala li-man? . 1997.Lulu yanhad min jaded . 1998.Sani'at al-ahlam . 1998.Dar Al- Moualef. 20056 Qisas Lilaitfali / 6 children's stories. Arabic-English with dictionary. Translated by Maya Salman. Beirut: Dār al-muʼalif, 2005.