Renowned Lebanese Novelist Emily Nasrallah Dies at 87

Late Lebanese novelist and women's rights activist Emily Nasrallah. (NNA)
Late Lebanese novelist and women's rights activist Emily Nasrallah. (NNA)
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Renowned Lebanese Novelist Emily Nasrallah Dies at 87

Late Lebanese novelist and women's rights activist Emily Nasrallah. (NNA)
Late Lebanese novelist and women's rights activist Emily Nasrallah. (NNA)

Prominent Lebanese novelist Emily Nasrallah passed away on Wednesday at the age of 87.

A women’s rights activist and distinguished author of novels, children's books and short stories, Nasrallah focused her writing on themes of family, village life and emigration, as well identity and the lasting effects of Lebanon's 15-year civil war.

A mother of four, Nasrallah grew up in the southern Lebanese town of Kfeir before moving to Beirut, where she took up journalism and gained quick acclaim for her literary talents.

She published her first novel, "Birds of September", in 1962 shortly after graduating from the American University of Beirut with a degree in education and literature.

The book earned her three Arabic literary prizes and kick-started an influential career that spanned decades of political tumult in Lebanon. Several of her works have been translated into English and French.

Her latest book, published just this week and entitled "The Beautiful Times", is a journey through Lebanon in the 1950s that includes encounters with leading women and activists.

"We are sad that we have lost Emily Nasrallah, the person and the writer," Emile Tyan, chairman of al-Dar publishing house, told AFP.

"There cannot be a distinction between Emily the writer and the intelligent, literate, calm and powerful person that she was."

Tyan said that Nasrallah, a pillar of his Beirut-based publishing house, "represented a beautiful period with her literature, culture, ethics, thought, and her connection to her homeland and its roots".

In her best-known children's book "What happened to Zeeko", Nasrallah depicts the impact of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war through the eyes of a cat in Beirut abandoned by its family.

In February, Lebanese President Michel Aoun honored Nasrallah with the Commander of the National Order of the Cedar award in recognition of her literary achievements.

“With her passing, Lebanese literature lost one of its main pillars that has long embodied human values and attachment to the earth, nation and identity. Lebanon, however, will hold Nasrallah in high regard as pioneer that will remain in memories for generations to come,” he said on Wednesday.

"Today, Lebanon and the Arab world have lost a... literary icon, a (symbol) of Lebanese creativity, and a women's rights activist who added intellectual value to our country," Prime Minister Saad Hariri wrote on Twitter.

Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury said that Lebanon has lost "an important female face".

In a television interview two years ago, Nasrallah was humble about her literary talents.

"I do not claim that my language is superior," she said. "I like to write in simple language that is true and strong."

She will be laid to rest in the eastern city of Zahle on Thursday.



S.Africa's Iconic Protea Flower Relocates as Climate Warms

Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP
Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP
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S.Africa's Iconic Protea Flower Relocates as Climate Warms

Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP
Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP

On his farm two hours north of Johannesburg, Nico Thuynsma gestured towards thousands of orange, yellow and pink proteas in flower and thriving 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa.

"They're all different," the 55-year-old farmer said of the assorted blooms from the diverse Proteaceae family that has more than 350 species in South Africa, from firework-like "pincushion" varieties to delicate "blushing brides".

He picked out a majestic pink and white crown, nearly the size of his head, that has taken four years to reach its impressive size. "The King Proteas are very slow to grow," Thuynsma said.

The largest of the proteas, the King Protea, is South Africa's national flower.

It has lent its name to the national cricket team and countless brands. It features on the currency and is the logo for South Africa's presidency this year of the G20 group of leading economies, which convenes a summit in November.

It is also the country's largest flower export with more than 10 million stems sent abroad last year, worth close to 275 million rand ($15 million), according to the Cape Flora industry organization, said AFP.

Its status offers the King Protea some protection but almost half of South Africa's other protea species face extinction because of pressures on their native habitats in the mountains of the Cape, according to South Africa's National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

These include habitat loss to agriculture, the proliferation of invasive alien species and "changes to natural fire cycles", SANBI said in a 2021 report.

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"People come to South Africa to see proteas," Nigel Barker, a professor in plant sciences at the University of Pretoria, told AFP. "It's the plant equivalent of the elephant or the lion."

Most proteas are endemic or semi-endemic to the Cape Floral Kingdom biome of "fynbos" ("fine bush") that stretches across the southern tip of South Africa and is one of the world's richest flora biodiversity hotspots.

But climate projections predict "hotter, drier conditions", Barker said. "We'll be looking at a completely different vegetation type in the future, semi-desert almost in some places."

"Many species, because they're so range-restricted, will probably go extinct under those scenarios," he said.

"The only solution we have is to cultivate them artificially... in greenhouses or farms where you control irrigation," Barker said.

An example is Thuynsma's farm in the grasslands of the north, where he began planting proteas three decades ago.

Here, winters are dry and frosty, and the summers rainy -- conditions very different to those in the far south where the proteas are at home.

Gel for irrigation

Through trial and error, Thuynsma has been able to cultivate close to 200 protea varieties, including some long forgotten and abandoned by farmers in their original habitats.

In his latest experiment, he has planted 36 varieties with just two liters (four pints) of saturated gel for irrigation.

"I hope to unlock the power of some of these varieties," Thuynsma said. "They come from the Western Cape out of very harsh conditions, so they do have it in them."

"I learn from them, I learn with them. And, hopefully, in the future I can advise my nursery public -- and even estates -- how to plant this lovely fynbos without irrigation," he said.

"I don't think I have a solution for climate change," he joked, crouched over a small seedling in freshly turned soil. "But I do have a solution: to plant proteas."

A few meters (yards) away, in a warm nursery, thousands of protea sprouts awaited their turn in the soil.

"I love them, I protect them, I collect them," Thuynsma said. "The protea is part of South Africa's DNA."