Raja'a Alem

Raja'a Alem (born 1956 in Mecca) is a Saudi Arabian novelist known for documenting the Meccan/Hejazi environment through novels featuring symbolic Sufi/Gnostic narratives and cosmic visions. She studied English Literature at King Abdulaziz University, began writing for Al-Riyadh newspaper, and has published several novels, plays, and short stories, some translated into English and Spanish. She won the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for The Doves' Necklace and divides her time between Jeddah and Paris.