Beginner’s Pluck
Daughter of a Palestinian father and an English mother, Selma spent her teenage years in Kuwait. After university she went to Cairo, then the West Bank, working for human rights organisations. Then she did a Masters in England, met the man she married, and went with him to Bahrain.
“I’d spent my twenties connected to Palestinian politics, and Bahrain was a bland corporate world. I had my children there, but I could only work in banking or telecoms. All these terrible things were happening in Palestine, and I wasn’t involved. That’s when I started writing. I felt, this is something I can do. I can present the Palestinian world to an English-speaking reader.”
Experimenting with short stories, Selma was twice a finalist in the Fish Competition, and she attended the West Cork Literary Festival three times. She was published by Granta and the British Council, and was nominated for the International PEN award.
Who is Selma Dabbagh?
Date/place of birth: January 8, 1970/Dundee, Scotland.
Education: Durham University. Law.
Home: London.
Family: Divorced with two children aged 10 and 5.
The Day Job: A lawyer, on a consultancy basis.
Hobbies: Meeting friends for good conversation.
Favourite Writers: Roberto Bolano, Anton Chekhov, Muriel Spark.
Second Novel: “It’s set in the Gulf. It has strong Arab Spring elements in it.”
Top Writing Tip: Experiment with different voices and styles. And be honest.
Web: www.selmadabbagh.com
Twitter: @selmadabbagh
THE DEBUT
Out of It. Bloomsbury: €18.16. Kindle: €9.85
There’s bombing in Gaza. Rashid wants nothing but escape; and it comes through a scholarship in London. His twin sister Iman, is desperate to make a difference. Set in Gaza, the Gulf, and London, this novel recounts the struggles they encounter, coming from a disparate family.
The Verdict: A remarkable debut showing the different ways people cope living in political turmoil. I loved it.
— Interviewed by Sue Leonard
