Karima Ahdad is an award-winning Moroccan writer born in 1993. She is the author of three novels and a short story collection, and her work has been translated into English, French, Spanish, and Slovenian.
Her debut novel Cactus Girls won the Mohamed Zafzaf Prize for the Arabic Novel in 2020 and was selected for the LEILA Catalogue promoting Arabic literature in Europe. Excerpts from the novel were also longlisted twice for the John Dryden Translation Prize.
Her short story A Slender Thorn Digs into My Foot, which explores the emotional complexities of a daughter caring for her father with Alzheimer’s, won first prize in the 2024 ArabLit & Komet Kashakeel Flash Fiction Competition.
Ahdad’s novel The Other Woman (2024) explores obsession, toxic relationships, and the emotional lives of Moroccan women through a bold and intimate narrative voice.
Her collection of stories A lower Abdominal Wound published Almutawassit 2026 with support from AFAC - The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.
She holds a Master’s degree in political communication and has worked in journalism and digital media in Morocco, Turkey, and Germany. She has spoken at major literary events such as Read My World (Amsterdam), Bozar (Brussels), and Istanbul universities.
