The Palestinian short story writer Samira 'Azzam (1927-1967) was one of the first post-Nakba voices to address the effect of the Nakba on the Palestinian people through the short story genre. For this reason, she is considered the pioneer of the Palestinian short story and her work is classified as literature of the Palestinian Diaspora

(Adab al-manfa

). The Palestinian Diaspora refers to the dispersal of eight hundred thousand Palestinians from their homeland (Palestine) in the wake of the 1948 Nakba (or “catastrophe”) and their subsequent displacement in neighboring Arab countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq) and elsewhere. Yet most of 'Azzam's short stories (sixty-nine in total) dwell on gender, social class and their intersections in the Arab world – work for which she is…

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Citation: Khalifa, Ferial. "Samira 'Azzam". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13729, accessed 19 March 2024.]

13729 Samira 'Azzam 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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