Azizah Abd Allah Abu Lahum

Azizah Abd Allah Abu Lahum (born 1945) is a Yemeni novelist and writer.^[1] She was born in Naham into a prominent sheikh family, and although she did not have formal schooling, she was brought up in a culturally aware environment. She married a diplomat which allowed her to live abroad and experience foreign cultures, before returning to live in Sanaa.

Along with Ramziyya al-Iryani, Azizah is considered one of the pioneering women of contemporary Yemeni literature.^[2] Her first novel Ahlam wa Nabilah was published from Cairo in 1997 and she has published several more novels since. More broadly, she has played a major role in the women's rights movement in Yemen. She helped to establish the Yemeni Women's Association in the 1970s and also participated in the US-based Arab Women's Council.

Because of the prominence of the Abu Lahum name, Azizah prefers to publish under the name of Azizah Abd Allah.

References

1. Arab women writers: a critical reference guide, 1873-1999, by Radwa Ashour, Ferial Jabouri Ghazoul, Hasna Reda-Mekdashi
2. Gender and the Writing of Yemeni Women Writers by Antelak Al-Mutawakel, PhD dissertation, University of Tilburg, 2005