Maria Dadouch


Maria Dadouch is a Syrian literary writer, screenwriter and novelist. She has written both Arabic adult novels as well as numerous books for children. Her work has been honored with several awards for Arabic literature, including the Katara Prize for young adult novels. Some of her books, such as Omar and Oliver and The Fly Over the Pond, have been published in English.

Life and career

Dadouch graduated from the University of California in Los Angeles earning a degree in Creative Writing in 2015. In the beginning of her career, Dadouch had helped in establishing Fulla teenage magazine in 2005, for which she wrote articles and stories. She also wrote for the TV Arabic comedy series Maraya.
Dadouch moved to the United States when the war in Syria started in 2011. Since 2015, she has published both novels for adults as well as numerous books for children, some of which were translated into English.
In 2017, arts organization Art OMI invited her for their writing residency. Dadouch has also served as an instructor in creative writing courses, sponsored, for example, by the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature and the Arabic MOOC website Edraak. For the Edtech company Asafeer, which produced open-access STEM-themed illustrated Ebooks for Arab children and schools, Dadouch created a creative writing program. Twenty-four mainly women authors taking part in this program wrote 100 storybooks for the Global Digital Library's No Lost Generation prize.

Works

Novels

The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Mug With a Lid, English original, 2015The Bad White, 2019The Planet of Uncertainties, 2019I Want Golden Eyes, 2019The Heart Which Is Totally Behind the Rib, 2020

Children's books

The Puzzle of the Wooden Door, 2016The Secret of the Magical Growth, 2017I Want Another Mum, 2017SemSem Dot Com, 2018Karma Karamila – Who Took My Apricot Pen?, 2018Me and Him, 2018Karma Karamila – The Girl of the Golden Lira, 2018Karma Karamila – A Big Problem, 2018Do You Like the Scheme With the Narwhal, 2018Karma Karamila – I Don't Want to Go to the Pool, 2019One Evaporated... Two You Are a Princess, 2019What Do Is Yasser Hiding? Gad and the Magic Grape Seed The Diary of a Martian Boy Zakadam Can't Dance Standing Hairdos Island Mama Bot's Private Time The Shuttle of Eternal Youth The Adventure of a Frog who Was a Prince A Mug With A Lid: Syrians and the Sea, 2015
  • ''A Fly Over a Pond''

Awards

Dadouch has been honored with several awards: