In 1981, the celebrated author and activist Nawal el Saadawi was imprisoned by the Sadat regime in her native Egypt, for ‘crimes against the state’. Through haunting and evocative prose, Saadawi here recounts how she and her fellow prisoners continued to resist even in captivity, and to form a community which transcended divisions between secular and religious activists. She reveals both the harrowing detail and the everyday mundanity of prison life, as well as the bravery and resolve of all women resisting oppression – and of political prisoners around the world.

Memoirs from the Women’s Prison is an unforgettable, landmark work of prison writing that offers a rare insight into the indomitable, soaring literary mind of the Arab world’s leading feminist.

Even more relevant today, Memoirs from the Women’s Prison will make readers think more deeply about who is really being incarcerated today, and for what. * Bustle *
Intensely powerful * Nation *
A highly literary, Kafkaesque account … There is an honest, reflective quality to her writing, and her plight evokes outrage and sympathy. * Publishers’ Weekly *
i>'Memoirs from the Women’s Prison is part of an extraordinary body of work from Egypt’s most prominent and longstanding dissident. * TLS *

Nawal El Saadawi was an internationally renowned writer, novelist and fighter for women’s rights both within Egypt and abroad. She held honorary doctorates from, among others, the universities of York, Illinois at Chicago, St Andrews and Tromso as well as Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her many prizes and awards include the Premi Internacional Catalunya in 2003, the Council of Europe North–South Prize in 2004, the Women of the Year Award (UK) in 2011, the Sean MacBride Peace Prize (Ireland) in 2012, and the French National Order of Merit in 2013. Her books have been translated into over forty languages worldwide. Her other memoirs include A Daughter of Isis (Zed 2018) and Walking through Fire (Zed 2018).