Raja'a Alem

Raja'a Alem
Mohammed Achaari with Raja'a Alem at the 2011 London Literature Festival
Native name
رجاء عالم
Born1970
Mecca
NationalitySaudi Arabian
Genrenovel
Notable awards2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction

Raja'a Alem (Arabic: رجاء عالم; born in 1956) is a Saudi Arabian novelist from Mecca/Hejaz. She studied English Literature at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah in 1980. She began her writing career on the "Letters and Ideas" page in Al-Riyadh newspaper, as well as in the newspaper's weekly supplement. She is credited with documenting the Meccan/Hejazi environment in her novels. Her novels are distinguished by a symbolic Sufi/Gnostic narrative with broad cosmic visions. Some of her works have been translated into English and Spanish.