Samar Mahfouz Barraj

Teaching Diploma, Arabic and Social Studies (Elementary), 2002, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Bachelor's degree, Public Administration, 1981, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Areas of expertise

Expertise:

Creative Writing
Editing
Translation (children's books)
Creative writing workshops for adults and children
Teaching
Training
Promoting Reading (in Arabic)

Languages:

Arabic
French
English
Italian

Work history

Jobs:

Writer of books for children and young adults and translator, 2007-present.

Trainer [designing workshops and library activities on"how to teach Arabic through fun", "how to promote reading stories in Arabic", and "creative writing for children"], 2007-present.

Teacher (Arabic), Assistant Arabic Coordinator and Coordinatior of Library Activities, 2007-2012, private school.

Teacher (Arabic and social studies), 2002-2007, private school.

Honorary office and memberships

Member (since 2007), board member (since 2013) of the Lebanese Board on Books for Young People (LBBY)
Member of the founding team of the website entitled Mubadara, an "Initiative to Develop an Arab Child Reader", 2015.

Productions

Publications highlights:

Mahfouz-Barraj, S. (2014). Khat 'ahmar [Red line]. Beirut: Dar Al-Saqi.

Mahfouz-Barraj, S. (2014). Al-bitaqa al-'ajiba [The amazing card]. Amman: Dar Al-Salwa.

Mahfouz-Barraj, S. (2012). Jadati sa tatathakaruni da'iman [My grandmother will always remember me]. Beirut: Yuki Press.

Mahfouz-Barraj, S. (2011). 'indama maridat sadiqati [When my friend got sick]. Beirut: Yuki Press.

Mahfouz-Barraj S. (2008). Lam akun 'aqsod [I did not mean it]. Beirut: Asala Publishers.

Exhibitions, lectures & performances:

Guest author at the Emirates Airlines Literature Festival in Dubai, presented story reading and writing sessions to children and presented a Masterclass about translation, Dubai, March 2018.
Participation in the event “Stories on the map” in Bucharest-Romania- story telling and plays-2015-2016-2017
Speaker at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair, panel entitled "How to Promote Reading", with author Philip Ardagh and Priscilla Baily, March 2012.

Speaker at the Sharjah Book Fair for Children Books about "the relationship between education and teaching", April 2012.
Speaker at the First IBBY Conference for the Region of Central Asia and North Africa (CANA) on “the importance of library activities sessions in promoting reading in schools", Sharjah, April 2013.
Guest author at the Emirates Airlines Literature Festival in Dubai, a session entitled "From an Idea to a Story" and a creative writing workshop for children entitled "Children can also write", Dubai, March 2014.
Speaker at the International Middle East Symposium on "the role of children literature and education in making a difference", Kirikkale University, Turkey, May 2014.

Awards and Distinctions

Awards:

The book "Sadiki" [My friend] won the "Kitabi" Arabic Children's Book Prize 2015 organized by the Arab Thought Foundation. The book is illustrated by Mona Yakzan and Myra El-Myr and published by Dar Al-Saqi- Lebanon.
The book "khat 'ahmar" [Red Line] won the "Kitabi" Arabic Children's Book Prize 2018 organized by the Arab Thought Foundation. The book is illustrated by Mona Yakzan and published by Dar Al-Saqi- Lebanon.
The book "Aldibaba la takraa" [Bears don’t read] was listed on the IBBY honor list 2018 for the best text translation category. published by Academia International- Lebanon.
The book "Al-bitaqa al-ajiba" [The Amazing Card] was on the honor list of "Kitabi" Arabic Children's Book Prize 2015 organized by the Arab Thought Foundation. The book is illustrated by Mona Yakzan and Hiba Farran and published by Dar Al-Salwa- Jordan.
The book "Ma ahla al-nawm" [Sleeping is so good!] was listed on the IBBY honor list 2014 for the best text category. The book is illustrated by Zarifi Haidar and published by Asala Publishers- Lebanon.
The book "'Indama maridat sadiqati" [When My Friend Got Sick] won the "Kitabi" Arabic Children's Book Award 2013 organized by the Arab Thought Foundation. It also won the Best Children's Book Production Award at the Beirut International Arab Book Fair in 2011, and was shortlisted for the 2011 "Etisalat" Award for Arabic Children's Literature Book Fair in Sharjah. The book is illustrated by Sinan Hallak and published by Yuki Press- Lebanon.
The book "Jadati sa ta tatazakaruni da'iman" [My Grandmother Will Always Remember Me] was listed on the honor list of "Kitabi" Arabic Children's Book Prize 2013 organized by the Arab Thought Foundation. It also won the Best Children's Book Production Award at the Beirut International Arab Book Fair, 2012, and was shortlisted for the 2012 "Etisalat" Award for Arabic Children's Literature Book Fair in Sharjah. The book is illustrated by Maya Fidawi and published by Yuki Press-Lebanon.
The book "'ala dawi' al-sham'a" [By the Candle Light] was listed on the Honor List of the "Kitabi" Arabic Children's Book Prize 2012 organized by the Arab Thought Foundation. The book is illustrated by Myra El-Myr and published by Asala Publishers- Lebanon.