Nawal el Saadawi – writer and activist
The death of writer and activist Nawal el Saadawi has just been announced. In 2011 Tess Woodcraft interviewed her at a conference organised by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Right Organisation for Pod Academy. We reproduce it here. Typically, and at 80 years old, she had stopped off at the Occupy encampment around St Paul's Cathedral on her way from the airport, before coming on to the conference. Note: there is also an Italian translation of this podcast, by Federica di Lascio, below. Nawal el Saadawi is one of the foremost Egyptian writers. A doctor by profession, she has written over 40 books of fiction and non-fiction, which have been translated into 30 languages. Since her very first novel, written in her twenties, she has taken on some of the most difficult, challenging, controversial subjects, including: female genital mutilation, domestic violence, child marriage, prostitution, the impact of war on women and children, so-called ‘honour killing’ and the laws that maintain women’s status as minors. It is not surprising perhaps that this has made her many powerful enemies. She has been forced out of employment, she was imprisoned by the Egyptian authorities in the 1980s and in the 1990s she lived under serious death threats from religious fundamentalists. Indeed, she was forced into exile. But now she is back in Egypt where, although now in her eighties, she took an active role in the demonstrations in Tahrir Square last Spring and continues to fight to ensure that women’s rights are part of the political settlement in Egypt. Her writing and activism are seen by women around the world as a beacon of light and she has received many awards, literary and academic. This interview was recorded at a conference in London organised by IKWRO, the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation, which works to end honour killing and sexual violence against women. Tess Woodcraft: What did you mean when you wrote in your autobiography: ‘writing is my sole refuge, it’s like breathing’? Nawal el Saadawi: My work is my love and when you love your work you can do it well. Since childhood I was forced to study medicine, to become a doctor. But I didn’t dream of being a physician – I dreamt of art, music, poetry, dancing, writing novels. Of course there is no separation of creativity in science and art, but when I was a child I loved to move my body, to dance and this is natural. But in Egypt at that time it was a taboo to be a dancer or a film actress, and it was very respectable to be a doctor. So I accepted the advice of my parents and went into the medical profession. But all the time I felt that my writing was my life, and all the time I kept a secret diary under my pillow, and I have never stopped writing from then till now. It is more than oxygen, it is my life. It is more than breathing TW: How do you see the relationship between your writing and your political activism? N el S: They are inseparable. Writing and fighting are inseparable. Why do we write? Because it gives us pleasure. Creativity gives us pleasure. The pleasure of creativity is above everything – it can cure us of all our pains. But of course creativity can also lead to you to prison and to exile because you challenge the system. But the pleasure of creativity is more than the pain Nawal el Saadawi at the IKWRO conference TW: You’ve tackled some of the most difficult issues, – one of these is female genital mutilation. Despite efforts to outlaw it, it is still practised in many countries. Is it possible to change this? N el S: Of course, but there are many sexual problems in the lives of women – female genital mutilation, rape, honour killing, forced marriages. They are usually tackled separately,
