Laila al-Othman

Laila al-Othman (sometimes Laylā al-'Uthmān) is a Kuwaiti writer, novelist, short story writer, and a famous fictionist who was born into a prominent Kuwaiti family in 1943, and only 22 years later she made her writing debut in a local newspaper featuring her opinion on social and literary issues. During the course of her career, she has published 14 collections of short stories, nine novels, and many news articles.

Biography Early life Laila al-Othman, is the fourth girl of the family, she was born in 1943 in Kuwait at a small seaside town. When she was born, her mother threw her out a window because she wanted a son. In the end, al-Othman was saved by the nurse. Many of her future works are inspired by this unfortunate event. Sometime in her childhood, her parents divorced, and al-Othman ended up living with her father and step-sisters.

Living in the father's post-divorce house was not pleasant. She was negatively labeled "the daughter of the first wife" and was mistreated by her stepmother and step-siblings. Her father ignored her and he remained absent for most of her early life. She began drawing on walls as a source of solace from her turmoils. While confined to her father's home, al-Othman demonstrated her love for education, which led her father and poet, Abdallah al-Othman, to open up his library to her. He told her that "one day, you'll be a famous poet." Abdallah forced al-Othman to attend all of his literary forums, but he did not allow her to publish any articles under her own name.

Marriage Al-Othman decided to marry a Palestinian doctor and ignored the conservative expectation to marry one's own cousins. Her husband was supportive of her writings and encouraged her to publish them. Simultaneously, al-Othman's father tried to prevent her from publishing, but when he died shortly after her marriage her name appeared in many newspapers and publications. She began writing for a daily column in the Al-Siyasah newspaper. Among her works are the novels The Woman and the Cat (1985), Sumayya Comes Out of the Sea (1986) and The Trial (2000) and the short stories A Woman in a Vessel (1976), The Departure (1979) and Love Has Many Images (1982). Eventually, she was released on bail after 2 months.

Among the award recipients, were Saud Alsanousi in 2010, and Bassam Almusallam in 2013.

Current life She is analyzing the Arab world and does not plan to write a novel on it any time soon. When asked about the future of the Arab world, she responded optimistically but she does issue a caveat that if “the Islamists get power, especially in Egypt, this will be a real catastrophe that falls upon the Arab world.”

Recognition Wasmiya takhruju min al-Bahr (Wasmiyya comes out of the Sea) (1986): This novel was chosen as one of top 100 Arab novels written in the 21st century and has been adapted into a movie, a radio show, and a play.