Gamila El Alaily

Gamila El Alaily (in Arabic born in Mansoura, Egypt 20 March 1907, died 11 April 1991) was an Egyptian poet and novelist who confronted ideas that were then socially accepted by educated men about women. As the first female member of the previously all male Apollo Poet Society, she was a pioneer women in the literary scene in Egypt and an influential modernist. To spare her family any potential public embarrassment because of her writings, she did not publish using her real name, but, she did become an active young writer. While she was still living in Mansoura, she formed her own literary association called Family of Culture, and established the Writers of Arabism Association and al-Ahdaf magazine. She published her first collection of poetry, Sada ahlami (The Echo of My Dreams) in 1936.

She was always aware of the difficult social climate in which Egyptian women were writing poetry.

Magazines She also published in al-Nahda al-Misriya, a women's magazine, and in al-Mar’a al-Misriya and her poems appeared in Abullu. Bayna abawayn: qiṣṣah, [Cairo]: al-Majlis al-Aʻlá lil-Thaqāfah, 1981 Nabaḍāt shāʻirah: shiʻr, [Cairo]: al-Hay'ah al-Miṣrīyah al-ʻĀmmah lil-Kitāb, 1981 Bayna abawayn: qiṣṣah, [Cairo]: al-Majlis al-Aʻlá lil-Thaqāfah, 1981 Nabaḍāt shāʻirah: shiʻr, [Cairo]: al-Hay'ah al-Miṣrīyah al-ʻĀmmah lil-Kitāb, 1981 Hindīyah, [Cairo]: Dār al-Taʼlīf, [between 1900 and 1999] Jamīlah al-ʻAlāyilī tuqaddimu Qaṭarāt min al-ḥubb al-ilāhī. [Cairo]: Maṭbaʻat Dār al-Taʼlīf, 1985 Amānī: qiṣṣah Miṣrīyah, [publisher not identified], [194-?]

Tributes In March 2019, Alaily was featured in a Google Doodle celebrating her 112th birthday.