Selma Dabbagh

is a British Palestinian writer of fiction who lives in London.

Selma’s first novel, Out of It, was published by Bloomsbury in 2011/2012 and was positively reviewed in the UK, the US and the Middle East. It was nominated as a Guardian Book of the Year. In 2024, it headed The Guardian's list of five best books to explain Israel-Palestine.

The Arabic edition, Gaze Tahta Al-Jild translated by Khulood Amr, was published by BQFP in August 2015. Italian and French editions were published in September 2017; Fuori da Gaza, Il Sirente translated by Barbara Benini and Gaza Dans la Peau, Éditions de L'Aube translated by Benoîte Dauvergne. In May 2019, Selma won first prize for the Premio Opera Prima, Spoleto, Umbria.

Selma is the editor of the collection, We Wrote In Symbols; Love and Lust by Arab Women Writers,  published by Saqi Books in 2021. Described as 'groundbreaking' and the first of its kind etc by The Washington Post, the collection is comprised of 110 pieces by over 70 authors, writing in Arabic, French and English. It includes contemporary and classical short stories, poetry and novel excerpts, by new and established writers of Arab heritage.

Selma

has also written and published numerous short stories with Granta, Wasafiri, Saqi, Telegram, International PEN and others.  Several of her short stories have been nominated for awards. She is a PEN and Pushcart Nominee.

has also produced numerous blogs and pieces of journalism for newspapers and magazines from The Guardian and the London Review of Books in the UK to GQ in India. Short pieces of her fiction and non fiction have appeared in numerous anthologies published by Bloomsbury, Canongate and Saqi.

wrote the Imison Award nominated radio play produced by BBC Radio 4, The Brick, broadcast in January 2014 and a futuristic radio play, Sleep It Off, Dr. Schott (December, 2018, WDR, Germany) set in Gaza, 2048.

regularly reviews works of fiction, films, culture and plays about or by Palestinians for The Electronic Intifada and has appeared at literary festivals from Ferrara to Frome and Guildford to Gaza, Karachi and Jaipur. She has taught creative writing at schools and universities in the UK, France and the Middle East.

has also collaborated with film makers in the writing of feature films, TV series and theatrical productions.

her work has been translated a number of languages including Arabic, French, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin and Spanish.

has a PhD from the department of English and Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. The critical commentary was entitled, Politics of the Interior; Resistance, Whitewashing and Propaganda in Soraya Antonius's The Lord and Muriel Spark's The Mandelbaum Gate. Awarded February 2023.