Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim

Abdullah Ibrahim obtained his Bachelor of Arts’ degree in Arabic Language and Literature from the College of Education, Baghdad University, in 1981, followed by a Masters’ degree in Arabic Literature (Novel) in 1987, and a Ph.D. in Arabic Literature (Discourse) from the College of Arts, Baghdad University, in 1991. Between 1991-2003, he lectured in a number of Arab Universities, teaching Arabic Literature and Literary Criticism in Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad from 1992-1993, the 7th of April University in Libya from 1993-1999 and Qatar University from 1999-2003. He also taught courses on research methodology in literary studies and discourse theory and its applications to postgraduate students in Iraq and Libya. In 2003, he was appointed by the Ministry of Culture in Qatar as coordinator for Qatar’s International Prize. As of 2010, he became Cultural Advisor in the Emir’s Court in Qatar.

Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim’s erudition and deep knowledge of the Arabic narrative and world literary arts have earned him recognition as a leading scholar of Arabic Literary criticism and a pioneer of modern Arabic novel discourse. He has authored more than 20 books and co-authored 10 others, as well as numerous scholarly and general articles, dealing with different aspects of the Arabic novel exposition. In his studies, he was able to refine and deeply analyze the modern Arabic discourse entry and to elucidate the relationship between Arabic narrative and mainstream narrative in world literature. He combined research on Arabic narrative with different cultural trends, and established a solid and broad base for his studies on Arabic literary criticism. Dr. Ibrahim participated in numerous national and international conferences and seminars in his field of specialization. In 1997, he was awarded Shoman’s Prize for Young Arab Researchers, and in 2013, he was awarded Shaikh Zayed’s Book Prize for Literary Studies. He is also a contributing researcher for Cambridge Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Literature.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.