About me
I am a language enthusiast. I grew up in Sardinia, in a bilingual Sardinian/Italian environment. I learnt English, French and Spanish in secondary school, then satisfied my thirst for languages by embarking on a BA in English and Arabic from the University of Bologna during which I squeezed in a year in Barcelona as an Erasmus student (and picked up Catalan), as well as brief extracurricular, enriching experiences in Tunis and Madrid. In 2010 I spent a life-changing year studying Arabic at the University of Damascus and fell in love with everything Syrian, developing a passion for the country’s vernacular, history and literature. In 2012 I completed a MA in Languages and Cultures of Africa and Asia again at the University of Bologna, and in 2013 I was awarded the Principal’s Career Development scholarship to conduct my PhD research in contemporary Arabic literature at the University of Edinburgh which I successfully defended in 2017. While reading for my PhD I also spent time perfecting my knowledge of Arabic in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. As I was writing up my doctoral thesis, I published a translation of short stories by Syrian Zakariyya Tamir, the first book to have ever been translated from Arabic into Sardinian. From 2016 to 2019 I taught Arabic at the University of Manchester, where I built strong connections with the city’s Syrian community. I came to Westminster in September 2019.
Teaching
I have been teaching Arabic in Britain for over twelve years now. I have taught Standard Arabic and Colloquial Spoken Arabic at all levels as well as courses on the modern Middle East, gender representations in modern Arabic literature and the history of Syria since its independence. I'm always keen to explore new strategies that go beyond Arabic language teaching as it has traditionally been performed in Europe, and through my teaching I have developed a keen interest in the politics of language teaching, particularly in the context of curriculum decolonisation.
Research
My research interests focus on the evolution of contemporary Syrian literature in relation to political transformation. In particular, I examine shifting representations of gender roles in the contexts of modernisation and secularisation, debates surrounding trauma, the impact of existential philosophy on modern Arabic literature, and the development of memoir writing as a literary form. My first monograph on gender representations in the short stories of Zakariyya Tamir was published by IB Tauris in 2023.
I am also an accomplished literary translator, with published translations of Zakariyya Tamir’s short stories into both Sardinian and English. In recognition of this work, I was awarded the Sheikh Hamed Award for Translation in 2023 for my English translation of Sour Grapes (الحصرم). My most recent project is Critical Conditions by the Syrian activist Hadi Abdullah, further extending my engagement with contemporary Syrian voices in translation.
In addition, with Dr Ann-Christin Zuntz we are currently working on a a documentary on the history of the Syrian community in Manchester since the early 20th century.
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.