Karim Alrawi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Karim Alrawi
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Reading at Prairie Lights bookstore, Iowa City, Iowa, 2016
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| Born | Alexandria, Egypt |
| Occupation | Writer, playwright |
| Genre | Literary Fiction, Children's fiction, Plays for stage, radio and television |
| Notable works | Migrations, Child in the Heart, Promised Land, The Unbroken Heart, Deep Cut, Madinat al-Salam |
Karim Alrawi (Arabic كريم الراوي) is a writer who was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He has taught at universities in the UK, Egypt, the US, and Canada. He was a special writing fellow at the University of Iowa. He also taught creative writing there.
While living in the UK, he worked to fight against racism. He wrote for groups like the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism. In 1984, he spoke at a big conference about anti-racism in London. He has always worked for peace and believes in creating a Palestinian state. In 1982, he was a main speaker at the start of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London.
In 2003, he spoke to the US Congress. He asked them to help build stronger community groups and support independent news in the Middle East and North Africa. He also joined a meeting in 2007 to plan a way for two states (Israel and Palestine) to live side-by-side. This helped set up a big meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
In Egypt, he was a leader for the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. He also led the Egyptian branch of International Pen, a group for writers, from 1992 to 1994.
He was in Egypt during the Arab Spring uprisings from 2011 to 2013. After the military took control again, Alrawi was one of many human rights activists who faced charges. They were accused because he trained journalists in media ethics and using the internet. Some thought this helped cause the 2011 uprising. Luckily, an Egyptian court dropped the charges in 2018. This decision was confirmed in 2020, and the case was officially closed in 2024.
Contents
Karim Alrawi's Life Story
Alrawi studied at University College London, the University of Manchester, and the University of British Columbia.
In the UK, he managed plays at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Later, he was a writer at the Royal Court Theatre in London. He also helped decide which plays received funding from the Arts Council. When he returned to Egypt, he taught theatre at the American University in Cairo. However, his plays were banned by the government's censor. He was later arrested and questioned by Egyptian State Security because of his work with the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR).
He went to the United States as a Fulbright International Scholar. He worked at many theatres, including Meadow Brook Theatre in Michigan and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He also wrote and edited several international publications. He was the Editor in Chief of ARABICA magazine. This was a major Arab-American publication. He also helped manage media training programs in North Africa and South Asia. He worked with the World Bank in Washington, DC, as a communications advisor.
Awards and Recognition
Karim Alrawi's stories, plays, and shows have won many awards. These include:
- The HarperCollins Publishers Prize for Best New Fiction, Canada.
- The Wallace Stegner Award for the Arts, Canada.
- The John Whiting Award, for special contributions to theatre, UK.
- The Samuel Beckett Award, for new and excellent writing for performances, UK.
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award, for an amazing new stage play, UK.
- Festival of Asia Writer's Award, for a promising new playwright, UK.
- He won the Egyptian Ministry of Culture Theatre and Youth Award twice, Egypt.
- Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, Canada.
- National Playwriting Award, Canada.
- USA Plays Today Award, USA.
- The Free Press Theatre Excellence Award, Michigan, USA.
He also received writing awards from the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Plays in Britain
Alrawi's first full play, Migrations, was shown at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. His second play, A Colder Climate, was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London. After that, he wrote three more plays for Joint Stock Theatre. This was a big touring theatre company in Britain. These plays were Fire in the Lake, A Child in the Heart, and Promised Land. All three caused some discussion when they were performed. Fire in the Lake won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
His play Crossing the Water was about the British in Egypt and the Suez War. It was read aloud in London before being performed at the American University in Cairo. This happened even though the Egyptian government tried to ban it.
Alrawi's play Blind Edge was shown at the Commonwealth Institute in London. His play Aliens won a national playwriting award.
He wrote plays for many famous theatres. These include the Royal Court Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, and the Old Vic Theatre in London.
Plays in Arabic
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In Egypt, Alrawi taught at the theatre department of the American University in Cairo (AUC). His first problem with the government censor happened when his play Crossing the Water was banned. He was called in to explain himself. Later, he changed Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters to be set in modern Egypt. This play was performed at AUC.
Alrawi also wrote four plays in Arabic. Two of them were performed at AUC. Madinate el Salam (City of Peace) tells the story of a Sufi poet named Mansour al-Hallaj. He was executed in Baghdad a long time ago. The play was performed twice, even though the government refused to give a license. This led to threats of arrest for Alrawi. Performing these plays, even without permission, was a reason for Alrawi's later arrest and questioning.
Two other plays, Autobis al Intikhabat (The Election Bus) and Mudun Gha'iba (Absent Cities), were planned with AUC students. The Election Bus made fun of the Egyptian election system. Absent Cities was about cities destroyed by war. However, Alrawi and his actors were not allowed into the theatre for their final practices. This meant the shows were canceled.
Plays in North America
Karim Alrawi was a writer-in-residence at several places. These included Iowa State University and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He taught playwriting at the University of Victoria in Canada. Later, he was a writing fellow at the University of Iowa. There, he taught creative writing to students from around the world.
The Unbroken Heart is a play based on the life of blues singer Ethel Waters. It was first performed in Iowa and then toured across the country. He also wrote plays for local schools and led theatre workshops for kids in Michigan.
His play Sarajevo was about the war in Bosnia. It was performed in workshops at Meadow Brook Theatre. The play Sugar Candy was read aloud at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.
Patagonia, a play about torture and fighting back, was first performed in Vancouver, Canada. Across The Morne, a play for two actors and dogs, was read aloud in Vancouver.
Deep Cut is a play set on the American Gulf Islands. It's about cultural differences and difficult choices. It was performed at La MaMa ETC in New York and by Golden Thread Theatre in San Francisco and Washington, DC.
Books for Children
Alrawi has written two picture books for children: The Girl Who Lost Her Smile and The Mouse Who Saved Egypt.
The Girl Who Lost Her Smile won the Parents Magazine Gold Award in 2002. It was also a finalist for the Kentucky Bluegrass Book Award in 2002. This book was turned into a children's play in the UK and the United States.
His picture book The Mouse Who Saved Egypt was nominated for the People's Prize in the UK.
He also wrote a children's cookbook called Arab Fairytale Feast. It was nominated for the Forest of Reading Children's Books Awards in 2023.
Books for Adults
Alrawi's novel Book of Sands was published in 2015. The book is about the Arab uprising. It won the first HarperCollins Publishers Prize for Best New Fiction. It was also named a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Best Book of the year. It was a finalist for the Amazon Best New Fiction award.
Other Creative Works
Karim Alrawi has written for BBC radio and television. He has also written for Channel 4 television in the UK.
