About me
Hana Al-Khamri grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as the daughter of Yemeni migrant workers. In a country where women are treated as legal minors, Hana pursued and fulfilled her dream of becoming a journalist. Starting off in a gender-segregated editorial office in Jeddah, she has since then left Saudi Arabia, traveled the world, and written for international newspapers like Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, as well as Danish and Swedish papers Information, Dagens Nyheter, and Svenska Dagbladet.
Since 2011, she resides in Sweden with her family and is active as a freelance writer and a popular lecturer with a focus on politics, culture, and women’s rights in the Middle East. She recently hosted the very popular Swedish Radio program SOMMAR i P1 in which she told the gripping story of how she, the daughter of an illiterate mother, fell deeply in love with books at a bustling flea market in Jeddah.
Well-behaved women seldom make history
“Is this the newspaper you want to write for?”
My neighbor was pointing at the torn-off newspaper pages which my mother had laid out across the carpet to protect it while they were eating and drinking. Now, the pages were full of coffee stains. The neighbor fixed her eyes at me, snorting.
“What is the point of working for a newspaper that’s used to protect carpets and clean mirrors?”
Some have been forced into exile, others have left of their own accord, and a few still live in the country with some of the most misogynistic laws in the world. Hana Al-Khamri grew up in Saudi Arabia and fulfilled her dream of becoming a journalist in a country where women are treated as legal minors. Today, she lives in Sweden and has written a book about the women who, just like herself, defied the structures, stepped into the public sphere, and made history.
In her debut WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN SELDOM MAKE HISTORY, Al-Khamri meets female Saudi journalists with very different backgrounds and views on society. What unites them is the desire to practice the profession they love. Through these women’s stories, we gain insight into a closed society, where demands for equality clash with conservative norms and strict religious laws. With great warmth and humor, Al-Khamri portrays the ingenuity that can occur when brave people long for freedom.
Contact Me
Hana Al-Khamri
Press contact (Publishing House in Sweden: Natur & Kultur)
Sanna Wallin