Quick Facts
Biography
Dima Wannous (Arabic: ديمة ونوس) (born in Damascus in 1982) is a Syrian writer and translator. She studied French literature at Damascus University and the Sorbonne. 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.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. 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 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".
Dima is the daughter of Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous. She is married to the Syrian journalist Ibrahim Hamidi and lives with him in London.