Muhsin al-Musawi
· ProfessorColumbia University · Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
Active 2000–2022
About
Muhsin al-Musawi is a professor of classical and modern Arabic literature, comparative and cultural studies at Columbia University. He is a renowned scholar and literary critic with teaching and research interests spanning several periods and genres within Arabic literature. Professor al-Musawi is the author of thirty-nine books, including six novels, and over sixty scholarly articles. His notable works include 'Scheherazade in England,' 'The Society of the Thousand and One Nights,' 'The Islamic Context of the Thousand and One Nights,' 'The Postcolonial Arabic Novel: Debating Ambivalence,' 'Arabic Poetry: Trajectories of Modernity and Tradition,' 'Reading Iraq: Culture and Power in Conflict,' 'Islam on the Street: Religion in Arabic Literature,' 'The Medieval Islamic Republic of Letters: Arabic Knowledge Construction,' 'Arabic Disclosures: The Postcolonial Autobiographical Atlas,' and 'The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures.' He has also edited volumes such as 'Arabic Literary Thresholds' and 'Arabic Literature for the Classroom,' and wrote the introduction and notes for the Barnes & Noble Classics Edition of 'The Arabian Nights.' Professor al-Musawi is the editor of the Journal of Arabic Literature and has served as an academic consultant for numerous institutions. He has received several awards, including the Owais Award in Literary Criticism, the Kuwait Prize in Arabic Language and Literature, the King Faisal Prize in Arabic Literature in English, and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
Awards & honors
- 2002 Owais Award in Literary Criticism
- 2018 Kuwait Prize in Arabic Language and Literature
- King Faisal Prize in Arabic Literature in English, Jan.2022
- Sheikh Zayed Book Award, May 2022
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