Professor Husam Aldin Al-Khatib

Husam Al-Khatib obtained a Diploma in Education and BA in English Literature from Damascus University, and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Cambridge University in 1965. He became a full professor at Damascus University in 1970, and was Chairman of the Department of Arabic Language and Vice Dean of the College of Arts. He helped establish the Educational and Cultural Affairs Office of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. He was also an assistant to the Syrian Minister of Higher Education, Cultural Advisor in the Syrian Government and Consultant to the People’s Assembly. He founded the College of Arts in Taizz University in Yemen and served as its first Dean. He was also a Fullbright Fellow at Indiana University and a visiting researcher at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. He also served as Professor of Comparative Literature at Qatar University until 2004, and thereafter as Director of the Translation Center in Qatar.

Al-Khatib is an erudite Arab writer with diverse interests in Arabic and comparative literature. His discerning analyses of the works of several Palestinian writers and poets, and his insights of the impact of the Palestinian tragedy on these works, established him as one of the leading scholars of contemporary Palestinian literature. His books and articles dealing with the contributions of Palestinian literary critics at home and in diaspora are of considerable importance in this field.

Al-Khatib is a member of the Arab Writers Union, the Palestinian Writers Union and several national and international associations of comparative literature. He is also the founder and editor of two Arabic journals, Arab Parliament and Roots, and chief or associate editor of other Arab literary journals.

Professor Al-Khateeb has written numerous books and articles on the Palestinian Literature and creative writings of various figures in Palestine and in the Diaspora.

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