Rawaa Sonbol

Rawaa Sonbol (born 1979) is a Syrian writer of short fiction, theatre, and children’s literature. She has long been preoccupied with the question of women’s self-awareness, and has more recently written about those who, like her, remained in Syria throughout the war. She has published three shortstory collections: The Tongue Hunter (2017), which received the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity, The Green Dragon’s Wife and Other Colourful Stories (2019), and Do, Yek (2023), which was shortlisted for the 2024 Almultaqa Prize. ‘Amira Who Knows,’ a story from the latter collection, was selected for inclusion in the Penguin Book of the International Short Story (2026) and four stories were published in McSweeney’s. Her writing for the stage and for children and young adults have earned her accolades from across the Arab world.