Maia Tabet

Maia Tabet is an Arabic-English literary translator with a background in editing and journalism. Born in Beirut, Lebanon , in 1956, she was raised in Lebanon, India, and England. She studied philosophy and political science at the American University of Beirut and lives between the United States and Cyprus.

Career Tabet is noted for her translation of two novels by the late Lebanese author Elias Khoury: Little Mountain . The former was the first Khoury novel to appear in English translation (in 1989) while the second was nominated for the 2011 Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and won the judges' commendation. She has co-translated, with Michael K. Scott, the controversial Throwing Sparks (Tarmee bi-Sharar) by Saudi writer Abdo Khal, a novel that garnered the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), aka the Arabic Booker Prize.

Tabet has also translated short stories, novel excerpts, and lyrical essays by Iman Humaydan, Najwa Barakat, Alawiya Subh, Hala Kawtharani, Abbas Beydoun, and Elias Khoury (Lebanon); Khaled Khalifa and Zakaria Tamer (Syria); Elias Farkouh and Hisham Bustani (Jordan); Ahmed Fagih (Libya); Habib Selmi (Tunisia); Luay Hamza Abbas (Iraq); Ali Muqri (Yemen); Amir Tag Elsir (Sudan); Bassam Almusallam, Jassim Al-Shammarie, and Estabraq Ahmad (Kuwait); and Ziad Abdallah (UAE). Her work has appeared in The Common, Banipal: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature, Fikrun wa Fann (a publication of the Goethe Institut), Portal 9, Rusted Radishes, Words without Borders, The Punch Magazine, Barricade, and the Journal of Palestine Studies, among others.

Personal life In addition to her commitment to social justice issues and the environment, Maia Tabet has an interest in the history of food and the art of cooking. She is the mother of two adult daughters, and has a granddaughter named Layla.