Elias Khoury

Elias Khoury (1948 –2024) published 14 novels, a collection of short stories, three plays, and four books of literary criticism, which were widely translated. As Clay Risen writes in his obituary for the New York Times: “Mr. Khoury’s writing, both fiction and journalism, often focused on the twin events that defined his world: the Lebanese civil war, from 1975 to 1990, and the plight of Palestinians after the founding of Israel, particularly the tens of thousands who fled to Lebanon in 1948 and after the Six-Day War of 1967.” Khoury served as editor of the quarterly, the Journal of Palestine Studies; Mulhak, the weekly literary supplement of the Lebanese daily An-Nahar; the cultural section of the daily Al Safir; and the publication of Al Karmel and Palestinian Affairs with Mahmoud Darwish. In addition to being a public intellectual, Khoury directed plays and was the the artistic director of the Theatre de Beirut. He also taught comp lit at the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese University, the Lebanese University of Beirut, and Columbia. He was Global Distinguished Professor at New York University (2000–2014). In 2001, Khoury signed a statement with Darwish, Samir Kassir, Edward Said and Adonis, in which he opposed the holding of a Holocaust denial conference in Beirut.