|
|
Novelist
& Screenwriter from Syria, he was born in the city of Aleppo (Halab) in 1950, Syria.
His literary trends have arisen since childhood when he set out to write one-act plays to
be presented on the school stage. He traveled to Bulgaria to study civil engineering and
he got a master’s degree in 1976. He came back home to work as an engineer in his
private office. His actual and effective literary career has begun lately. He wrote a
number of novels, plays, TV dramas and children dramas. He lives in Aleppo where he works
and writes.
Nihad Sirees is considered one of the realistic writers in Syria in the eighties. His
works clearly reflect the environment of Aleppo, and his characters belong to the middle
class. He is considered one of the first writers in Syria who write the historical novel.
His novel The North Winds has attracted the attention of
both readers and critics. It is considered one of the most important historical novels in
Syria.
His approach to the field of television-drama is considered remarkable in the widely known
serial story of ‘The Silk Market' , which presents the
environment, culture and dialect of Aleppo for the first time in the history of the Syrian
television-drama. This television-serial has been welcomed by the Syrian and Arab viewers
due to its reality, boldness and suspense. It is still being telecast on some satellite
channels. Besides, it is available on videotapes in America, Canada and South America.
Moreover, it has been translated into Persian and
German.
For further details on the author and his work, you may visit his website at
http://www.syriagate.com/nihadsirees/
A selection of his works are:
Novels
The
Cancer (Al-Saratan):
It was firstly issued in 1987 by the publishing house of Mohammed Ali El-Hami in Tunis,
then in 1988 by Al-Hewar in Syria and then in 1995 by Al-Fikra in Aleppo. It is about the
story of Abdullah who came back from Argentine, where he was immigrant, after he had been
suffering from an incurable disease. It is the story of originality, longing for childhood
and attitude to both self and the world.
The North Winds – The Small Market: (Riyah Al-Shimal)
It was published in 1989 by Al-Hewar Publishing house in Syria. It is an epic of the First
World War and of self-consciousness after many centuries of the Turkish Ottoman
colonialism. It looks into the war from the view points of its characters who are from the
city of Aleppo, and it observes the enlightenment of the national consciousness at that
time. It depicts the life of people, hunger and poverty through the story of three young
men who are dispatched to different battlefronts, so the war determines the destiny of
each one in a different way from the other.
The Small Market is the title of the first part of the trilogy of The North Winds.
The Pastoral Comedy (Al-komedia Al-fallahiya):
Published by the author in Damascus in 1990. It is about the tribes who leave the desert
because of its tribal struggles and go to settle in a Bedouin quarter around the city of
Aleppo. These people infiltrate into the city, exerting an influence on it. The spirit of
tribal society prevails throughout the urban society.
The North Winds – 1917:
It is the second part of the trilogy of The North Winds. It was published in 1993 by
Al-Enmaa Al-Hadari in Aleppo. Here we follow the development of the characters we have
known in the first part
A Case of a Passion (Halet Shaghaff):
It is the writer’s latest novel. It was published in 1998 by Attia Publishing House
in Beirut. It looks closely at the realm of women and feminine music and singing during
the thirties of the 20th century in Aleppo. It is an interesting novel about a case of a
passion for a woman that has affected both men and women. It is the case of a passion for
a woman and a passion for the tale which later affects the reader.
Note that you may read the whole text of this novel at the writer's website
http://www.syriagate.com/nihadsirees/
TV Dramas
The Silk Market (Khan Al-Harir):
It is a TV serial of 23 episodes. It was shot and telecast in the beginning of 1996 and
was greatly welcomed by viewers. Its events take place in the fifties of the 20th century
in Syria where a serious political conflict had taken place and led to the union between
Syria and Egypt. This serial depicts the social, economic and political life at the time.
The romance and the social struggle are dominant in it.
Al-Thuraya (Al-Thuraya):
It is a TV serial of 33 episodes. It was telecast in the beginning of 1997 and was widely
welcomed, too. It won the silver prize in the contest of the social works in Cairo’s
Festival for the TV serials and programs in the same year. This serial spotlights the life
of the family of a pasha of a Turkish descent both at the eve and in the morning of the
moving of the Ottomans out of Syria and the coming of the French. This serial is
considered an epic of love and single valor. It depicts an exceptional love story between
Thuraya, the Pasha’s daughter, and an anti-Turkish highwayman. Besides, it depicts
the beginning of the enlightenment in the Syrian society.
The Silk Market (Part II):
It is a TV serial of 25 episodes. It was produced by the Orbit Satellite Channel, was
telecast in 1998 and was widely welcomed, too. Here we follow up the situations in Syria
at the time of the Syrian-Egyptian union and its impact on the destiny of the characters
we had known in the first part. The events continue up to the day of separation from Egypt
and the break up of the unity. This serial daringly tries to find out the reason of the
separation and spotting those responsible for it. It had raised a wide controversy among
the official, educational and popular circles. These three serials were directed by
Haytham Hakky.
Drama for Children
The Puzzle (Al-Lughz):
A serial of five episodes that was telecast in 1994 and won the bronze prize in the
International Cairo’s Festival for the films of children in 1995. It is a story of
three children in an elementary school who are fond of reading detective stories. They
fall under the effect of such detective stories and suspect two strangers to be criminals.
They pursue those two and set traps for them but they finally come to the conclusion
that both persons are innocent. It was directed by Layaly Bader
Tammam’s case (Qadiyat Tammam):
It is a serial of eight episodes that was telecast in 1999 and was transformed to an
80-minute movie. It is among the works included to participate in New York’s Festival
for the films of children in February 2000. It is the story of a child who tries to
prevent his parents from divorce after the mutual understanding between them had become
impossible. He tries his best and makes use of all means to do that. He finally succeeds
only when he uses a video camera and films their confessions solely. It was directed by
Mouhamad Sheikh Najeeb
Theatre
The Playing House (The Rules Maker):
It is a one-act play that was published in 1997 in the weekly cultural supplement of
Al-Thawra newspaper in Syria. It is now being prepared to be presented on the stage. It is
about a master who happens to get a valet to make him to play a certain game the rules of
which he makes and continuously changesthese rules to remain the only winner. It is a play
of law, tyranny, love andsacrifice.
The First Wife’s Night:
It is a one-act play about loneliness, jealousy, fear and human greed. Its heroine is a
woman whose husband marries to another woman. Hence, she tries to make him stay with her,
by revealing all her pain and jealousy.
The Piano:
It is a one-act play where a face to face meeting takes place between a man and a woman
who had been loving each other but the woman deserts him to get married to his wealthy
friend for fear of poverty. Both plays The First Wife’s Night and The Piano was
presented in one show in Aleppo in 1999.
Authors
AtoZ Home Bookstore Top
© 1998 -2000 Arab World
Books |